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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. press — a publisher
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — for sport
  5. band — a ring
  6. mine — for digging
  7. court — of law
  8. press — newspapers
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of a king
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. band — a music group
  13. net — after costs
  14. mate — to breed
  15. net — in sport
  16. mate — a friend
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. mate — a partner
  20. net — for catching
  21. press — to push
  22. field — a subject
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. band — a rubber band

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