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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. hand — help
  6. field — farmland
  7. press — a publisher
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. field — for sport
  10. press — to push
  11. cell — a phone
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. cell — in biology
  14. press — newspapers
  15. kick — in football
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. hand — in cards

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