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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. land — to come down
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. net — after costs
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. land — a country
  9. land — ground
  10. press — to push
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. season — of the year
  13. bark — to shout
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. stand — to bear
  17. press — a publisher
  18. press — newspapers
  19. net — in sport
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. season — in sport
  22. mine — for digging
  23. net — for catching
  24. trunk — of a tree

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