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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: bulb · spring · mate · straw · press · fall · chest · root

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. spring — the season
  3. chest — a box
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. mate — a friend
  7. press — to push
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. fall — to drop
  10. root — the cause
  11. press — newspapers
  12. mate — a partner
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bulb — for light
  17. chest — of your body
  18. root — of a word
  19. fall — the season
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — a coil
  22. mate — to breed
  23. root — of a plant
  24. fall — to drop

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