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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. press — a publisher
  3. march — music
  4. object — an aim
  5. bound — certain
  6. rash — a series
  7. field — a subject
  8. file — a line of people
  9. march — the month
  10. drill — the tool
  11. press — newspapers
  12. file — a document
  13. field — for sport
  14. object — a thing
  15. drill — a practice
  16. bound — obliged
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. object — to protest
  19. march — the month
  20. press — to push
  21. field — farmland
  22. drill — army training
  23. bound — tied together
  24. file — a tool

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