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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chest · ruler · land · game · bay · field · tube · press

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. chest — of your body
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. land — to come down
  5. tube — the underground
  6. game — a match
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. chest — of your body
  12. field — for sport
  13. chest — a box
  14. land — ground
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. tube — a container
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. field — farmland
  19. press — a publisher
  20. press — to push
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. press — newspapers
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. land — a country

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