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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. band — a ring
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. field — farmland
  5. staff — employees
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. tear — from crying
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. press — to push
  11. press — a publisher
  12. field — for sport
  13. plane — a tool
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. staff — employees
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. staff — a stick
  23. band — a music group
  24. press — newspapers

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