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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 116 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. ground — crushed
  3. season — in sport
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. ground — a position
  8. field — for sport
  9. board — a committee
  10. season — of the year
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. fork — in a road
  14. board — to get on
  15. ground — the earth
  16. press — to push
  17. press — a publisher
  18. field — a subject
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. drill — the tool
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. press — newspapers
  23. drill — a practice
  24. drill — army training

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