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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. press — to push
  3. bore — to tire
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. wound — an injury
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. mark — a grade
  8. press — newspapers
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. field — a subject
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. field — for sport
  14. capital — money
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. capital — a city
  17. hand — in cards
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. field — farmland
  20. press — a publisher
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. mark — a trace
  23. bore — to drill
  24. wound — an injury

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