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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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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: plane · land · fall · press · row · mark · shower · prune

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. press — a publisher
  4. plane — a tool
  5. press — to push
  6. fall — to drop
  7. land — ground
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. mark — a grade
  11. mark — a trace
  12. prune — to trim
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. fall — to drop
  15. land — to come down
  16. shower — to wash
  17. fall — the season
  18. press — newspapers
  19. row — a line
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. shower — rain
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. row — to paddle

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