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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 120 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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — for sport
  3. lie — to recline
  4. degree — temperature
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. degree — an amount
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. press — to push
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. pitch — completely
  13. field — a subject
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. spell — a short time
  17. degree — from a university
  18. spell — letters
  19. spell — magic
  20. press — newspapers
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. sharp — clever
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. press — a publisher

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