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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: ball · date · content · tear · squash · straw · press · prune

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. ball — a great time
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. ball — a dance
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. date — the fruit
  7. content — the amount
  8. tear — from crying
  9. content — happy
  10. prune — to trim
  11. squash — to crush
  12. tear — from crying
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. press — to push
  15. prune — to trim
  16. press — newspapers
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. tear — to rip
  19. squash — the sport
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. ball — a round shape

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