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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. kid — child
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. mark — a grade
  5. lean — to bend
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. wound — an injury
  10. mark — a trace
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — a subject
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. press — a publisher
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. field — farmland
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. lean — thin
  19. wound — an injury
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. kid — to tease
  22. press — newspapers
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. leaves — lets stay

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