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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — a practice
  4. field — a subject
  5. wind — moving air
  6. press — to push
  7. snap — to click
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. content — the amount
  10. drill — army training
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. bat — the animal
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. tube — a container
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. press — a publisher
  18. press — newspapers
  19. field — for sport
  20. content — happy
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. tube — the underground

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