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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. press — a publisher
  6. net — after costs
  7. press — to push
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — farmland
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. bat — the animal
  14. mine — for digging
  15. field — for sport
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. net — for catching
  18. perch — the fish
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. pitch — completely
  22. press — newspapers
  23. net — in sport
  24. ruler — for measuring

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