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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. mine — for digging
  3. prune — to trim
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. branch — a division
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. spring — of water
  8. press — to push
  9. spring — a coil
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. prune — to trim
  12. spring — the season
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. plane — a tool
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. press — a publisher
  24. press — newspapers

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