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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. present — the time now
  3. charge — a price
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pop — music
  6. pop — soda
  7. present — a gift
  8. branch — a division
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. press — to push
  11. prune — to trim
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. press — newspapers
  14. present — there
  15. press — a publisher
  16. charge — electricity
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. saw — the tool
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. charge — in control
  22. prune — to trim
  23. saw — the tool
  24. cold — an illness

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