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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 116 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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. file — a document
  3. drill — the tool
  4. clip — for paper
  5. rest — what's left
  6. field — for sport
  7. net — in sport
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. net — after costs
  10. rest — what's left
  11. field — farmland
  12. net — for catching
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — to cut
  15. press — to push
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. drill — a practice
  19. file — a tool
  20. rest — a break
  21. drill — army training
  22. file — a line of people
  23. field — a subject
  24. press — newspapers

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