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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. field — farmland
  3. pitch — completely
  4. field — for sport
  5. press — a publisher
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. kid — child
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. game — wild animals
  13. press — newspapers
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. date — the fruit
  17. field — a subject
  18. mug — to rob
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. mug — a cup
  21. press — to push
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. mug — a face
  24. bowl — a football final

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