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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

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

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. kid — to tease
  3. cold — not warm
  4. mug — a face
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. cell — a phone
  7. root — of a word
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. press — a publisher
  10. mug — to rob
  11. cell — in biology
  12. mug — a cup
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. root — of a plant
  17. root — the cause
  18. prune — to trim
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — an illness
  21. press — to push
  22. prune — to trim
  23. kid — child
  24. press — newspapers

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