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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 124 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.

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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: press · staff · bulb · face · wound · stem · pop · cold

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. face — to point toward
  3. bulb — for light
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. face — to confront
  6. pop — music
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. staff — a stick
  9. staff — employees
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pop — to visit
  12. press — a publisher
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bulb — for light
  15. staff — employees
  16. face — part of the head
  17. pop — soda
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. press — newspapers
  24. stem — to come from

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