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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: prune · band · tear · ruler · press · pound

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. tear — from crying
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. prune — to trim
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. band — a music group
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. pound — a weight
  10. tear — to rip
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. band — a ring
  13. press — a publisher
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. prune — to trim
  16. tear — from crying
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. press — newspapers

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