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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. field — farmland
  3. present — the time now
  4. press — to push
  5. present — there
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. field — a subject
  8. last — finally
  9. last — to go on
  10. bound — obliged
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. field — for sport
  14. bound — certain
  15. bound — tied together
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. key — for a lock
  18. present — a gift
  19. capital — a city
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. key — the most important part
  22. key — in music
  23. last — final
  24. press — newspapers

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