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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 · land · cap · lean · march · cell · press · row

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. march — the month
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. land — ground
  5. march — music
  6. land — a country
  7. row — to paddle
  8. land — to come down
  9. press — a publisher
  10. lean — to bend
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. lean — thin
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. row — a line
  16. press — to push
  17. cap — of ice
  18. march — the month
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cap — a hat
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cell — in biology
  24. press — newspapers

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