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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: trunk · press · saw · wound · degree · content · field · leaves

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. press — a publisher
  4. field — for sport
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. degree — an amount
  7. content — happy
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. field — farmland
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. content — the amount
  14. wound — an injury
  15. press — to push
  16. degree — from a university
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. field — a subject
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. press — newspapers
  21. wound — an injury
  22. saw — the tool
  23. degree — temperature
  24. saw — the tool

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