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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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Word bank
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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: field · press · fall · cap · patient · swing

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — the season
  4. cap — a hat
  5. press — to push
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. fall — to drop
  8. field — farmland
  9. swing — music
  10. field — for sport
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. swing — in golf
  13. cap — a lid
  14. cap — of ice
  15. field — a subject
  16. press — a publisher
  17. press — newspapers
  18. patient — a sick person

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