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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  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. prune — to trim
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. cold — an illness
  4. rule — a law
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. snap — to click
  9. bass — the fish
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. rule — government
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. perch — the fish
  17. bass — low music
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. prune — to trim
  20. press — a publisher
  21. band — a music group
  22. press — to push
  23. band — a ring
  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