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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. last — final
  3. fall — the season
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. field — for sport
  6. press — to push
  7. last — to go on
  8. press — newspapers
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. field — farmland
  11. face — to confront
  12. bulb — for light
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. fall — to drop
  15. scale — in music
  16. last — finally
  17. bulb — for light
  18. fork — in a road
  19. fall — to drop
  20. scale — size or range
  21. press — a publisher
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. face — part of the head
  24. face — to point toward

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