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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: board · rush · date · squash · press · cold · prune · file

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. cold — not warm
  4. prune — to trim
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. press — to push
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. squash — the sport
  10. board — a committee
  11. squash — to crush
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. cold — an illness
  15. press — a publisher
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. board — to get on
  18. file — a document
  19. date — the fruit
  20. file — a line of people
  21. press — newspapers
  22. file — a tool
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. prune — to trim

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