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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.

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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: kid · prune · press · rash · cell · kick · last · ground

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. ground — a position
  4. prune — to trim
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — child
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. press — to push
  9. last — finally
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. rash — hasty
  13. kick — in football
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. cell — a phone
  16. last — to go on
  17. cell — in biology
  18. press — newspapers
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ground — crushed
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. last — final
  23. kid — to tease
  24. rash — a series

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