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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. snap — to click
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. press — newspapers
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. degree — an amount
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. kid — child
  10. field — for sport
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. field — a subject
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. face — to confront
  15. degree — temperature
  16. kid — to tease
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. degree — from a university
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. press — a publisher
  21. face — part of the head
  22. press — to push
  23. bat — the animal
  24. face — to point toward

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