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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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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: race · branch · press · trunk · rest · club · mark · spring

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. race — the arms race
  3. branch — a division
  4. club — a group
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. race — humankind
  7. press — to push
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. rest — what's left
  10. club — for golf
  11. spring — the season
  12. club — for dancing
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. race — a contest
  15. spring — a coil
  16. rest — a break
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. rest — what's left
  20. mark — a grade
  21. press — newspapers
  22. mark — a trace
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. spring — of water

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