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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: firm · shower · bass · straw · cell · press · prune · land

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. cell — a phone
  3. shower — rain
  4. bass — the fish
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bass — low music
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. land — to come down
  9. shower — to wash
  10. press — newspapers
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. firm — steady
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. press — a publisher
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. firm — a company
  19. land — ground
  20. land — a country
  21. prune — to trim
  22. firm — decided
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. cell — in biology

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