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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 120 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 meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. lean — to bend
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. field — for sport
  7. lean — thin
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. field — a subject
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. season — in sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. press — newspapers
  16. march — the month
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. wake — a trail
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. press — a publisher
  23. pitch — completely
  24. press — to push

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