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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
468
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: straw · mine · bark · ball · band · bear · press · trunk

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. press — a publisher
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. bark — to shout
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. ball — a great time
  12. press — to push
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bear — the animal
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. ball — a dance
  19. press — newspapers
  20. band — a ring
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — for digging
  23. bear — the animal
  24. band — a music group

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