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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. bark — to shout
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. press — to push
  7. court — for sport
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. spring — the season
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — a coil
  14. press — newspapers
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. court — of law
  18. lean — to bend
  19. stem — to come from
  20. court — of a king
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. press — a publisher

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