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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. field — farmland
  3. wind — moving air
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rush — hurry
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. field — for sport
  10. wind — moving air
  11. press — newspapers
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. wound — an injury
  14. spell — magic
  15. field — a subject
  16. fork — in a road
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. spell — letters
  22. press — to push
  23. spell — a short time
  24. fork — a garden tool

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