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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. press — to push
  3. foot — a measure
  4. row — a line
  5. press — a publisher
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. track — to keep track
  11. row — to paddle
  12. last — to go on
  13. field — for sport
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. field — a subject
  16. last — finally
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. press — newspapers
  20. track — a path
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. track — a song
  23. dip — to sink
  24. last — final

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