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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. spell — letters
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. prune — to trim
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. cap — a hat
  8. wound — an injury
  9. press — a publisher
  10. race — humankind
  11. wound — an injury
  12. press — newspapers
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. wind — moving air
  16. race — the arms race
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cap — of ice
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. spell — magic
  21. cap — a lid
  22. spell — a short time
  23. race — a contest
  24. press — to push

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