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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: racket · prune · cue · press · cell · court · current · cold

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. court — of a king
  5. press — a publisher
  6. press — newspapers
  7. cell — in biology
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cue — a signal
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cold — an illness
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. cold — not warm
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. current — electric
  16. court — for sport
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cue — a hint
  20. court — of law
  21. current — happening now
  22. cue — for pool
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. press — to push

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