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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: press · trunk · present · coach · shower · ground · perch · net

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. present — there
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. net — for catching
  5. net — in sport
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. ground — crushed
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. net — after costs
  13. shower — rain
  14. present — a gift
  15. press — a publisher
  16. ground — a position
  17. press — newspapers
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. press — to push
  21. perch — the fish
  22. shower — to wash
  23. present — the time now
  24. ground — the earth

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