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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: game · trunk · tear · fall · branch · ground · press · straw

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. tear — to rip
  3. fall — the season
  4. tear — from crying
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. press — to push
  9. press — a publisher
  10. press — newspapers
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. fall — to drop
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. game — wild animals
  18. branch — a division
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ground — crushed
  21. tear — from crying
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. game — a match
  24. ground — a position

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