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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. scale — size or range
  4. field — for sport
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. bore — to tire
  9. field — a subject
  10. press — to push
  11. clip — to cut
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. shower — to wash
  14. clip — for paper
  15. field — farmland
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. clip — a video
  18. bore — to drill
  19. shower — rain
  20. swing — to play on
  21. swing — in golf
  22. scale — in music
  23. press — newspapers
  24. swing — music

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