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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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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 · tear · press · bear · land · last · ground · nail

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. press — to push
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bear — the animal
  5. tear — from crying
  6. ground — a position
  7. land — a country
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. tear — to rip
  10. land — to come down
  11. ground — the earth
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. press — a publisher
  14. last — finally
  15. press — newspapers
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. last — final
  18. bear — the animal
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. land — ground
  21. last — to go on
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. trunk — of a car

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