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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: season · cell · last · press · game · pound · rock · trunk

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. cell — a phone
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. game — a match
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. press — a publisher
  8. season — in sport
  9. cell — in biology
  10. rock — music
  11. rock — a stone
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. last — finally
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. last — final
  18. press — to push
  19. press — newspapers
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. last — to go on
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. pound — a weight
  24. game — wild animals

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