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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. fall — to drop
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. spell — letters
  5. fall — the season
  6. press — a publisher
  7. field — a subject
  8. pit — a hole
  9. field — for sport
  10. fall — to drop
  11. press — to push
  12. row — a line
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. spring — the season
  15. spell — magic
  16. field — farmland
  17. row — to paddle
  18. spell — a short time
  19. spring — a coil
  20. press — newspapers
  21. track — a path
  22. pit — in a race
  23. track — to keep track
  24. track — a song

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