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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. press — a publisher
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. field — for sport
  7. capital — money
  8. pound — a weight
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. lean — thin
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. file — a tool
  13. press — to push
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. file — a document
  17. lean — to bend
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. dip — to sink
  22. press — newspapers
  23. field — farmland
  24. file — a line of people

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