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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 120 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 · squash · ground · cell · pitcher · race · last · trunk

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. race — humankind
  4. last — finally
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. press — to push
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. ground — a position
  10. press — newspapers
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. race — a contest
  13. press — a publisher
  14. cell — in biology
  15. race — the arms race
  16. cell — a phone
  17. squash — the sport
  18. ground — crushed
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. last — final
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. squash — to crush
  23. ground — the earth
  24. last — to go on

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