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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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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: roll · wind · bat · coach · press · squash · tear · prune

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. prune — to trim
  4. roll — a list
  5. press — newspapers
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. prune — to trim
  8. press — a publisher
  9. tear — from crying
  10. squash — to crush
  11. squash — the sport
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wind — moving air
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. tear — to rip
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. press — to push
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. bat — the animal
  24. wind — moving air

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