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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: degree · season · craft · wave · wound · squash · cold · press

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. press — to push
  3. cold — an illness
  4. craft — a skill
  5. press — a publisher
  6. season — of the year
  7. cold — not warm
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. squash — to crush
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. degree — temperature
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. degree — from a university
  15. season — in sport
  16. squash — the sport
  17. degree — an amount
  18. craft — boats
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. press — newspapers
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wave — of the sea

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com