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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. saw — the tool
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. stem — to come from
  7. net — for catching
  8. net — in sport
  9. net — after costs
  10. field — a subject
  11. press — a publisher
  12. field — for sport
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. band — a ring
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cap — of ice
  17. press — newspapers
  18. cap — a lid
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. saw — the tool
  21. band — a music group
  22. field — farmland
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — a stem cell

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