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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 120 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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. mate — to breed
  3. game — wild animals
  4. field — farmland
  5. game — a match
  6. mate — a partner
  7. press — to push
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. press — a publisher
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bark — to shout
  14. deal — to handle
  15. press — newspapers
  16. field — for sport
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. mate — a friend
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. bat — the animal
  22. field — a subject
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. deal — an agreement

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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