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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 124 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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. face — to point toward
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. content — happy
  5. press — a publisher
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. face — to confront
  8. press — to push
  9. kid — child
  10. content — the amount
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — for sport
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. field — farmland
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. face — part of the head
  19. kid — to tease
  20. object — an aim
  21. press — newspapers
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. object — a thing
  24. object — to protest

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