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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: press · stem · cold · branch · deal · rest

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. deal — to handle
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. stem — to come from
  6. rest — a break
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. press — to push
  10. press — a publisher
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rest — what's left
  13. press — newspapers
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. rest — what's left
  18. branch — a division

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