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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 116 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. field — farmland
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. press — to push
  5. degree — an amount
  6. spring — the season
  7. tube — the underground
  8. season — in sport
  9. press — a publisher
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. season — of the year
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — for sport
  14. press — newspapers
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. tube — a container
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. spring — of water
  19. perch — the fish
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. degree — from a university
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. degree — temperature

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