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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. wound — an injury
  3. club — a group
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. last — finally
  6. club — for dancing
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. last — to go on
  9. press — newspapers
  10. stem — to come from
  11. scale — size or range
  12. wound — an injury
  13. scale — in music
  14. last — final
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. club — for golf
  17. press — to push
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. field — for sport
  20. kick — in football
  21. field — farmland
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. press — a publisher

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