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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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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: press · suit · prune · hand · kid · pound · cold · root

  1. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. hand — help
  5. pound — a weight
  6. root — of a plant
  7. prune — to trim
  8. kid — to tease
  9. root — the cause
  10. cold — not warm
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cold — an illness
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. suit — to fit
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. kid — child
  18. press — newspapers
  19. hand — in cards
  20. root — of a word
  21. press — to push
  22. suit — in cards
  23. press — a publisher
  24. cold — the Cold War

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