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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. field — farmland
  3. present — there
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. chest — of your body
  6. press — a publisher
  7. present — the time now
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. press — newspapers
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — the animal
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. capital — money
  14. swing — in golf
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — a city
  17. chest — a box
  18. swing — music
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. field — a subject
  21. chest — of your body
  22. swing — to play on
  23. field — for sport
  24. present — a gift

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