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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: pass · pound · racket · press · prune · kid · cold · face

  1. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. pound — a weight
  9. prune — to trim
  10. press — to push
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — to tease
  14. face — to confront
  15. cold — not warm
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to point toward
  19. press — newspapers
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cold — an illness
  23. press — a publisher
  24. kid — child

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