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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. land — ground
  3. press — a publisher
  4. firm — steady
  5. firm — decided
  6. land — a country
  7. swing — in golf
  8. field — for sport
  9. last — final
  10. swing — music
  11. ball — a great time
  12. field — farmland
  13. firm — a company
  14. last — to go on
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. field — a subject
  18. last — finally
  19. press — newspapers
  20. swing — to play on
  21. press — to push
  22. ball — a dance
  23. land — to come down
  24. clip — for paper

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