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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. press — to push
  3. field — farmland
  4. press — a publisher
  5. net — in sport
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. clip — to cut
  8. field — for sport
  9. press — newspapers
  10. ball — a great time
  11. field — a subject
  12. clip — for paper
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. dip — to sink
  17. ball — a dance
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. net — after costs
  22. clip — a video
  23. net — for catching
  24. arm — a part of something

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