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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: stem · wind · pit · clip · press · kid · prune · straw

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  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. pit — a hole
  2. prune — to trim
  3. press — newspapers
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — a video
  6. press — a publisher
  7. stem — to come from
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. kid — to tease
  11. prune — to trim
  12. kid — child
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. clip — to cut
  15. press — to push
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. wind — moving air
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. wind — moving air
  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