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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. rash — hasty
  3. press — to push
  4. track — to keep track
  5. cell — in biology
  6. press — a publisher
  7. present — a gift
  8. present — there
  9. press — newspapers
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — farmland
  12. present — the time now
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bore — to drill
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. track — a song
  19. rash — a series
  20. track — a path
  21. kid — child
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. field — for sport
  24. bore — to tire

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