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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: kid · press · mate · pitcher · cap · fan · prune · tear

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cap — a hat
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. prune — to trim
  5. press — newspapers
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cap — a lid
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. mate — a partner
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. cap — of ice
  13. mate — a friend
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. kid — child
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. mate — to breed
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. press — a publisher
  20. press — to push
  21. prune — to trim
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. tear — to rip
  24. tear — from crying

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