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

Word bank: last · rule · press · prune · present · kid

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. last — finally
  3. last — final
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. press — to push
  6. prune — to trim
  7. kid — child
  8. press — a publisher
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. prune — to trim
  11. present — there
  12. rule — government
  13. last — to go on
  14. kid — to tease
  15. rule — a law
  16. present — a gift
  17. press — newspapers
  18. present — the time now

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