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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: prune · press · chest · scale · mine · march

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. chest — a box
  7. mine — for digging
  8. chest — of your body
  9. scale — in music
  10. prune — to trim
  11. press — a publisher
  12. prune — to trim
  13. press — newspapers
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. chest — of your body
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — for weighing

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