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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 116 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 am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. field — for sport
  4. clip — to cut
  5. field — farmland
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. clip — a video
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. root — of a word
  10. press — to push
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. press — newspapers
  13. clip — for paper
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. root — the cause
  18. root — of a plant
  19. bat — the animal
  20. field — a subject
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. press — a publisher
  24. degree — an amount

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