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

Word bank: ruler · saw · tear · press · mate · field

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. tear — from crying
  3. press — a publisher
  4. mate — a partner
  5. field — farmland
  6. tear — from crying
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. saw — the tool
  9. press — newspapers
  10. mate — to breed
  11. tear — to rip
  12. saw — the tool
  13. field — a subject
  14. mate — a friend
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. field — for sport
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. ruler — for measuring

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