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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. present — a gift
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. field — for sport
  6. press — to push
  7. land — to come down
  8. clip — a video
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — a subject
  11. clip — for paper
  12. press — newspapers
  13. present — the time now
  14. present — there
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. land — ground
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. fall — to drop
  19. press — a publisher
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. fall — the season
  22. clip — to cut
  23. land — a country
  24. fork — in a road

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