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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. pop — music
  3. kid — child
  4. current — of water
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. press — newspapers
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. field — farmland
  10. pop — soda
  11. bat — the animal
  12. current — happening now
  13. press — a publisher
  14. field — a subject
  15. land — to come down
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. press — to push
  19. field — for sport
  20. pop — to visit
  21. land — ground
  22. land — a country
  23. current — electric
  24. leaves — of a tree

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