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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: press · pound · bat · root · trunk · cold · spring · content

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. press — newspapers
  3. root — of a word
  4. spring — the season
  5. press — a publisher
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. cold — not warm
  9. content — happy
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. press — to push
  12. content — the amount
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. spring — a coil
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. bat — the animal
  18. pound — a weight
  19. root — the cause
  20. spring — of water
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. cold — an illness
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. root — of a plant

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