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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. file — a line of people
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — a subject
  5. march — the month
  6. field — for sport
  7. march — music
  8. file — a tool
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — money
  11. file — a document
  12. press — to push
  13. march — the month
  14. press — a publisher
  15. mug — to rob
  16. mug — a face
  17. mug — a cup
  18. swing — music
  19. press — newspapers
  20. swing — to play on
  21. capital — a city
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. swing — in golf

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