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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. press — a publisher
  4. mine — for digging
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. rash — a series
  9. mark — a trace
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. rash — hasty
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. press — to push
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. bark — to shout
  19. field — farmland
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mark — a grade
  23. press — newspapers
  24. bark — 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