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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 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. pop — to visit
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. craft — boats
  5. tear — to rip
  6. prune — to trim
  7. press — to push
  8. pop — music
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. press — newspapers
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. kick — in football
  17. mine — for digging
  18. tear — from crying
  19. craft — a skill
  20. pop — soda
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. tear — from crying
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. prune — to trim

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