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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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. fall — the season
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. bass — low music
  10. fall — to drop
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bass — the fish
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. press — to push
  18. wind — moving air
  19. press — newspapers
  20. field — farmland
  21. pitch — completely
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. press — a publisher

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