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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. press — to push
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — temperature
  5. net — for catching
  6. pop — music
  7. hand — in cards
  8. prune — to trim
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. object — to protest
  11. press — newspapers
  12. net — in sport
  13. object — an aim
  14. stem — to come from
  15. pop — soda
  16. press — a publisher
  17. degree — from a university
  18. prune — to trim
  19. hand — help
  20. net — after costs
  21. object — a thing
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. pop — to visit
  24. stem — of a plant

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