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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · prune · fan · game · press · club · cell · staff

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. cell — a phone
  5. staff — employees
  6. club — a group
  7. club — for dancing
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. press — to push
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. game — wild animals
  12. staff — a stick
  13. press — newspapers
  14. staff — employees
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cell — in biology
  20. prune — to trim
  21. game — a match
  22. club — for golf
  23. prune — to trim
  24. press — a publisher

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