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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. object — an aim
  3. press — a publisher
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. file — a tool
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. file — a line of people
  9. press — newspapers
  10. pitch — completely
  11. press — to push
  12. fall — to drop
  13. cold — not warm
  14. fall — the season
  15. field — farmland
  16. object — to protest
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. field — for sport
  19. fall — to drop
  20. object — a thing
  21. cold — an illness
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. file — a document
  24. patient — a sick person

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