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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: patient · press · ball · snap · cell · prune · craft · tear

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. press — a publisher
  3. ball — a great time
  4. tear — from crying
  5. snap — to click
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in biology
  8. press — to push
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. tear — to rip
  12. craft — a skill
  13. prune — to trim
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. tear — from crying
  17. craft — boats
  18. press — newspapers
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. prune — to trim
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. ball — a dance
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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