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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. press — a publisher
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. land — a country
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. press — newspapers
  7. press — to push
  8. capital — money
  9. clip — for paper
  10. tear — to rip
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. land — to come down
  13. clip — to cut
  14. roll — a list
  15. capital — a city
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. roll — a cake
  18. clip — a video
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. tear — from crying
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. tear — from crying
  24. land — ground

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