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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 · stand · mine · wound · straw · fan · branch · row

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. wound — an injury
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. branch — a division
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. press — to push
  10. row — to paddle
  11. mine — for digging
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. stand — to bear
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. press — a publisher
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. press — newspapers
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. row — a line
  22. wound — an injury
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. straw — a straw man

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