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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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. pitcher — a jug
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. last — to go on
  6. prune — to trim
  7. mine — for digging
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. last — final
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. press — newspapers
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. scale — in music
  19. scale — size or range
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. press — a publisher
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. last — finally

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