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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. field — for sport
  3. craft — a skill
  4. press — to push
  5. spring — of water
  6. cell — a phone
  7. field — farmland
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. drill — army training
  10. drill — the tool
  11. spring — a coil
  12. drill — a practice
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. press — newspapers
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. spring — the season
  17. field — a subject
  18. craft — boats
  19. cell — in biology
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. wake — a trail
  24. mouse — the animal

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