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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: game · row · prune · lash · press · arm · ball · cold

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. cold — not warm
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — an illness
  9. row — to paddle
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. prune — to trim
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. ball — a dance
  16. row — a line
  17. prune — to trim
  18. press — a publisher
  19. game — a match
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. press — newspapers
  22. press — to push
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. game — wild animals

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