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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. row — a line
  4. field — farmland
  5. prune — to trim
  6. squash — to crush
  7. squash — the sport
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. field — for sport
  10. bulb — for light
  11. hand — in cards
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. hand — help
  14. prune — to trim
  15. press — newspapers
  16. capital — a city
  17. field — a subject
  18. row — to paddle
  19. press — to push
  20. capital — money
  21. bulb — for light
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. row — a quarrel

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