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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: press · spell · plane · straw · pit · kid · file · prune

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. prune — to trim
  3. plane — a tool
  4. press — to push
  5. spell — magic
  6. prune — to trim
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. spell — letters
  9. file — a line of people
  10. pit — a hole
  11. press — a publisher
  12. file — a document
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. kid — to tease
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. file — a tool
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. spell — a short time
  21. kid — child
  22. press — newspapers
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. pit — in a race

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