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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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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  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. press — a publisher
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. spell — a short time
  4. rush — hurry
  5. cell — a phone
  6. tear — to rip
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. cell — in biology
  9. prune — to trim
  10. spell — magic
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. pound — a weight
  14. tear — from crying
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. spell — letters
  17. press — to push
  18. kid — child
  19. prune — to trim
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. kid — to tease
  23. tear — from crying
  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