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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 116 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: swing · root · prune · key · press · bat · cold · land

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. press — to push
  3. root — of a word
  4. swing — in golf
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. press — newspapers
  7. swing — to play on
  8. key — in music
  9. bat — the animal
  10. root — of a plant
  11. press — a publisher
  12. land — ground
  13. swing — music
  14. cold — an illness
  15. key — for a lock
  16. land — to come down
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. prune — to trim
  20. key — the most important part
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. cold — not warm
  24. root — the cause

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