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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: file · field · racket · wake · kick · press

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. press — to push
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — for sport
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. press — newspapers
  9. file — a tool
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. file — a document
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. field — farmland
  16. file — a line of people
  17. wake — a trail
  18. press — a publisher

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