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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: prune · branch · roll · ground · cell · press · spring · snap

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. press — a publisher
  3. ground — crushed
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. prune — to trim
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — of water
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. ground — the earth
  11. prune — to trim
  12. press — to push
  13. ground — a position
  14. branch — a division
  15. spring — a coil
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. cell — a phone
  19. snap — to click
  20. cell — in biology
  21. press — newspapers
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. roll — a list
  24. roll — a cake

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