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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 116 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: rush · bear · press · cold · bay · patient · clip · present

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. clip — for paper
  4. bear — the animal
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. press — to push
  13. present — a gift
  14. rush — hurry
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. clip — a video
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. press — newspapers
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bear — the animal
  22. press — a publisher
  23. present — the time now
  24. cold — not warm

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