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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. ground — the earth
  3. clip — for paper
  4. lie — to recline
  5. rule — government
  6. press — to push
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. field — for sport
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. press — a publisher
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. clip — to cut
  15. ground — a position
  16. field — farmland
  17. press — newspapers
  18. ground — crushed
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — a city
  21. bark — to shout
  22. rule — a law
  23. clip — a video
  24. capital — money

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