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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. land — a country
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. rash — hasty
  5. fall — the season
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — for sport
  8. land — ground
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. branch — a division
  11. fork — in a road
  12. row — to paddle
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. press — to push
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. fall — to drop
  17. press — newspapers
  18. row — a line
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. land — to come down
  22. field — farmland
  23. rash — a series
  24. fall — to drop

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