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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: press · deal · bore · prune · wake · cold

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. press — a publisher
  3. prune — to trim
  4. deal — to handle
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. prune — to trim
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. cold — not warm
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. press — newspapers
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. press — to push
  14. bore — to drill
  15. wake — a trail
  16. bore — to tire
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. cold — an illness

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