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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: field · shower · prune · racket · roll · pop · squash · press

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. shower — to wash
  3. field — for sport
  4. roll — a list
  5. pop — soda
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. press — to push
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. squash — the sport
  11. prune — to trim
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. field — a subject
  15. squash — to crush
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. roll — a cake
  18. prune — to trim
  19. shower — rain
  20. press — newspapers
  21. pop — to visit
  22. press — a publisher
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. pop — music

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