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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: march · prune · press · leaves · stem · land · bark · spring

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. land — ground
  4. spring — of water
  5. bark — to shout
  6. spring — a coil
  7. prune — to trim
  8. spring — the season
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. press — to push
  11. prune — to trim
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. march — the month
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. march — music
  16. press — a publisher
  17. march — the month
  18. land — a country
  19. land — to come down
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. press — newspapers
  24. bark — of a tree

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