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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. wax — to grow
  3. field — for sport
  4. press — a publisher
  5. kid — child
  6. bound — tied together
  7. bound — obliged
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. field — farmland
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. field — a subject
  14. press — newspapers
  15. rash — hasty
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. bound — certain
  18. rash — a series

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