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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. fall — to drop
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. march — the month
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — a subject
  7. row — a line
  8. press — to push
  9. press — newspapers
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. fall — to drop
  12. spring — the season
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. row — to paddle
  16. press — a publisher
  17. spring — of water
  18. march — music
  19. fall — the season
  20. spring — a coil
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. march — the month

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