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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 ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. march — the month
  5. cell — in biology
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. press — newspapers
  8. march — music
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. press — to push
  11. can — a tin
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. field — farmland
  14. march — the month
  15. capital — money
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. can — to be able to
  18. field — a subject
  19. press — a publisher
  20. can — a tin
  21. capital — a city
  22. cell — a phone
  23. dip — to sink
  24. field — for sport

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