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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. bank — for money
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — a subject
  6. net — in sport
  7. net — for catching
  8. kid — to tease
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bank — for money
  12. press — a publisher
  13. press — newspapers
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. season — in sport
  17. press — to push
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. bank — of a river
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. kid — child
  23. net — after costs
  24. field — for sport

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