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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. press — to push
  3. net — in sport
  4. press — a publisher
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. land — ground
  9. land — a country
  10. cue — a signal
  11. capital — a city
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. net — for catching
  14. press — newspapers
  15. kid — to tease
  16. capital — money
  17. kid — child
  18. land — to come down
  19. net — after costs
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. cue — for pool
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cue — a hint
  24. prune — the fruit

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