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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 120 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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. march — the month
  4. march — music
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. board — to get on
  8. chip — for betting
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. prune — to trim
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — a match
  13. board — a committee
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. march — the month
  16. press — a publisher
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. game — wild animals
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. chip — to eat
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. press — newspapers
  24. board — a flat piece

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