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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  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 — the fruit
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. spell — a short time
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. cell — a phone
  6. game — a match
  7. prune — to trim
  8. press — to push
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. rush — hurry
  15. spell — magic
  16. cell — in biology
  17. spell — letters
  18. wound — an injury
  19. press — a publisher
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. prune — to trim
  22. game — wild animals
  23. cell — in a prison
  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