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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: craft · field · press · fan · mouse · spring · rest · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. rest — what's left
  3. field — a subject
  4. press — a publisher
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — the season
  7. rest — a break
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. field — farmland
  15. craft — a skill
  16. craft — boats
  17. rest — what's left
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. press — newspapers
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. press — to push
  22. field — for sport
  23. spring — a coil
  24. mouse — for a computer

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