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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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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: squash · prune · chest · cell · sharp · cold · lie · press

  1. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cell — in biology
  4. prune — to trim
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. squash — to crush
  8. press — a publisher
  9. press — newspapers
  10. press — to push
  11. squash — the sport
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. prune — to trim
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. lie — to recline
  17. chest — a box
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. sharp — clever
  20. cold — an illness
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cold — not warm

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