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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: prune · tear · degree · swing · mine · press

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. press — a publisher
  3. prune — to trim
  4. mine — for digging
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — an amount
  7. swing — to play on
  8. swing — music
  9. degree — temperature
  10. swing — in golf
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. tear — to rip
  14. press — to push
  15. prune — to trim
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. press — newspapers
  18. tear — from crying

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