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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 116 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: cold · prune · bay · last · land · press · staff · kid

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. land — to come down
  3. last — final
  4. prune — to trim
  5. staff — employees
  6. last — to go on
  7. prune — to trim
  8. press — newspapers
  9. staff — employees
  10. land — ground
  11. land — a country
  12. cold — not warm
  13. press — a publisher
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. press — to push
  19. kid — child
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. last — finally
  24. prune — the fruit

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