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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. last — final
  3. bat — the animal
  4. rest — a break
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. rest — what's left
  7. season — of the year
  8. field — a subject
  9. press — to push
  10. rest — what's left
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. last — to go on
  13. field — farmland
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. fine — high quality
  16. season — in sport
  17. chair — a leader
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. last — finally
  21. press — newspapers
  22. fine — all right
  23. press — a publisher
  24. bat — in an idiom

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