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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 116 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. prune — to trim
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. bound — obliged
  7. prune — to trim
  8. press — to push
  9. press — a publisher
  10. branch — a division
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. wake — a trail
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. bound — certain
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. plane — a tool
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bound — tied together
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. press — newspapers
  24. plane — in geometry

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