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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. field — for sport
  3. field — farmland
  4. press — a publisher
  5. pass — a permit
  6. can — a tin
  7. can — a tin
  8. field — a subject
  9. wound — an injury
  10. press — newspapers
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — a video
  13. can — to be able to
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. march — the month
  16. wound — an injury
  17. march — music
  18. bank — for money
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. bank — for money
  21. march — the month
  22. press — to push
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bank — of a river

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