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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. wind — moving air
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. press — to push
  5. prune — to trim
  6. game — a match
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. game — wild animals
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. kick — in football
  13. prune — to trim
  14. wind — moving air
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. press — newspapers
  24. cabinet — ministers

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