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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: cell · patient · prune · pass · straw · cold · press · craft

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. cell — in biology
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. cold — not warm
  10. prune — to trim
  11. pass — a permit
  12. craft — a skill
  13. cold — an illness
  14. press — newspapers
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. prune — to trim
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. craft — boats
  20. press — to push
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. press — a publisher
  24. patient — a sick person

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