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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  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. coach — pulled by horses
  2. press — a publisher
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. kid — to tease
  6. field — a subject
  7. suit — to fit
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. lean — to bend
  10. field — farmland
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. lean — thin
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. suit — clothes
  17. kid — child
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. suit — in cards
  21. field — for sport
  22. press — to push
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  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