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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. kid — to tease
  3. march — music
  4. row — to paddle
  5. press — newspapers
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. row — a line
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. net — for catching
  10. field — for sport
  11. last — to go on
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. march — the month
  14. net — after costs
  15. field — a subject
  16. press — to push
  17. lie — to recline
  18. field — farmland
  19. kid — child
  20. press — a publisher
  21. net — in sport
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. last — final
  24. march — the month

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