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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. file — a tool
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. press — a publisher
  5. court — for sport
  6. field — for sport
  7. prune — to trim
  8. file — a document
  9. press — to push
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. court — of law
  14. mine — for digging
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. press — newspapers
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. field — a subject
  20. lie — to recline
  21. court — of a king
  22. file — a line of people
  23. prune — to trim
  24. nail — for a hammer

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