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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. field — a subject
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. press — a publisher
  5. bass — low music
  6. band — a ring
  7. field — farmland
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — the tool
  11. bass — the fish
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. land — to come down
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. field — for sport
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. land — a country
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. land — ground
  20. press — newspapers
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — the fish
  24. band — a music group

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