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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 116 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. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. press — to push
  3. file — a line of people
  4. tear — from crying
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. cold — not warm
  7. net — for catching
  8. press — a publisher
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. field — a subject
  11. net — after costs
  12. file — a tool
  13. tear — from crying
  14. track — a path
  15. net — in sport
  16. field — for sport
  17. track — to keep track
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. track — a song
  20. rush — hurry
  21. file — a document
  22. press — newspapers
  23. cold — an illness
  24. tear — to rip

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