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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: ground · cell · press · season · lean · bowl · tear · root

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. season — of the year
  3. lean — thin
  4. ground — the earth
  5. cell — a phone
  6. tear — from crying
  7. ground — crushed
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. tear — from crying
  10. root — the cause
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. press — a publisher
  15. tear — to rip
  16. lean — to bend
  17. root — of a word
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. press — newspapers
  20. root — of a plant
  21. press — to push
  22. season — in sport
  23. cell — in biology
  24. ground — a position

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