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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · season · spring · wind · kid · stock · pitch · press

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. stock — shares
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. press — to push
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. press — newspapers
  8. pitch — completely
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. season — in sport
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. spring — the season
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. spring — of water
  18. season — of the year
  19. press — a publisher
  20. kid — to tease
  21. wind — moving air
  22. kid — child
  23. wind — moving air
  24. stock — goods

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