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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: bear · spring · press · board · kid · trunk · roll · last

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. press — to push
  4. board — a committee
  5. last — finally
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. kid — child
  8. spring — the season
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. last — final
  12. roll — a cake
  13. spring — a coil
  14. roll — a list
  15. kid — to tease
  16. spring — of water
  17. last — to go on
  18. press — newspapers
  19. bear — the animal
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. bear — the animal
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. board — to get on
  24. trunk — of a tree

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