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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. field — farmland
  4. mark — a grade
  5. press — a publisher
  6. field — a subject
  7. rash — hasty
  8. rash — a series
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. wake — a trail
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. chest — a box
  14. mark — a trace
  15. chest — of your body
  16. field — for sport
  17. bat — the animal
  18. chest — of your body
  19. press — newspapers
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. rock — a stone
  24. press — to push

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