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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. spring — of water
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — child
  5. perch — the fish
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. kid — to tease
  9. rock — music
  10. track — to keep track
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. press — a publisher
  13. capital — a city
  14. pitch — completely
  15. press — newspapers
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. spring — the season
  18. track — a path
  19. spring — a coil
  20. track — a song
  21. press — to push
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — money
  24. rock — a stone

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