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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. branch — a division
  3. fall — to drop
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. tube — the underground
  7. field — for sport
  8. press — a publisher
  9. court — for sport
  10. press — to push
  11. tube — a container
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. fall — to drop
  14. court — of law
  15. mine — for digging
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. field — farmland
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. fall — the season
  21. court — of a king
  22. field — a subject
  23. press — newspapers
  24. mine — an explosive

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