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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: press · spring · degree · straw · rest · hand · deal · prune

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. press — to push
  3. press — a publisher
  4. spring — of water
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. hand — help
  7. prune — to trim
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — from a university
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. deal — to handle
  14. rest — a break
  15. hand — in cards
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. spring — the season
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. rest — what's left
  20. spring — a coil
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. press — newspapers
  23. rest — what's left
  24. prune — to trim

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