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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: hand · leaves · last · stem · club · pop · fork · press

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  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. hand — part of the body
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. last — to go on
  5. press — to push
  6. last — final
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. pop — soda
  11. pop — to visit
  12. club — for dancing
  13. hand — help
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. pop — music
  17. hand — in cards
  18. club — for golf
  19. last — finally
  20. club — a group
  21. stem — to come from
  22. fork — in a road
  23. press — a publisher
  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