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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. field — a subject
  3. press — to push
  4. swing — in golf
  5. field — for sport
  6. swing — music
  7. craft — a skill
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. craft — boats
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. press — a publisher
  15. season — of the year
  16. cold — not warm
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. field — farmland
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. press — newspapers
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. season — in sport
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. swing — to play on

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