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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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Word bank
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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: ground · fork · land · cell · row · press

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. 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. cell — a phone
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. fork — in a road
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. ground — the earth
  6. row — a line
  7. press — newspapers
  8. land — a country
  9. ground — a position
  10. press — a publisher
  11. ground — crushed
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. land — to come down
  14. cell — in biology
  15. row — to paddle
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. press — to push
  18. 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