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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. press — to push
  5. date — the fruit
  6. last — to go on
  7. prune — to trim
  8. net — after costs
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. hand — in cards
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rash — a series
  14. net — in sport
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. press — a publisher
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. last — finally
  20. rash — hasty
  21. press — newspapers
  22. prune — to trim
  23. net — for catching
  24. hand — help

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