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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.

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: press · march · patient · field · drill · bound · prune · pop

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. press — to push
  3. field — for sport
  4. pop — music
  5. prune — to trim
  6. press — newspapers
  7. pop — soda
  8. march — music
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. prune — to trim
  11. press — a publisher
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. drill — army training
  14. field — a subject
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bound — tied together
  17. field — farmland
  18. march — the month
  19. drill — the tool
  20. bound — obliged
  21. bound — certain
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. drill — a practice
  24. march — the month

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