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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. staff — employees
  3. net — in sport
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. staff — employees
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — farmland
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. press — a publisher
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. chair — a leader
  15. staff — a stick
  16. fork — in a road
  17. net — after costs
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. press — newspapers
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. net — for catching
  23. press — to push
  24. chair — a professorship

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