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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. field — farmland
  3. cap — of ice
  4. charge — electricity
  5. cap — a lid
  6. mine — for digging
  7. press — to push
  8. land — to come down
  9. land — a country
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. cap — a hat
  12. press — a publisher
  13. field — for sport
  14. charge — in control
  15. can — to be able to
  16. press — newspapers
  17. charge — a price
  18. field — a subject
  19. land — ground
  20. can — a tin
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — for paper
  24. clip — a video

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