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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: land · coach · press · cold · prune · branch · pitcher · mine

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — a country
  4. press — a publisher
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cold — not warm
  8. land — ground
  9. press — newspapers
  10. mine — for digging
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. press — to push
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. branch — a division
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cold — an illness
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. prune — to trim
  24. mine — an explosive

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