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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: club · press · fan · dip · field · clip · fall · kid

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. clip — a video
  5. field — for sport
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. clip — to cut
  8. fall — to drop
  9. press — a publisher
  10. kid — to tease
  11. club — for dancing
  12. fall — the season
  13. kid — child
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. press — newspapers
  16. press — to push
  17. dip — to sink
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. clip — for paper
  20. field — a subject
  21. club — for golf
  22. fall — to drop
  23. club — a group
  24. dip — a sauce

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