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

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. press — a publisher
  3. staff — a stick
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. capital — a city
  6. kid — child
  7. swing — to play on
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. press — to push
  10. press — newspapers
  11. kid — to tease
  12. field — for sport
  13. staff — employees
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. swing — music
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. swing — in golf
  18. bark — to shout
  19. field — a subject
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. staff — employees
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. foot — a measure

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