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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 · band · bat · toast · pop · game · press · land

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. press — a publisher
  3. toast — bread
  4. band — a music group
  5. press — to push
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. field — a subject
  8. pop — to visit
  9. pop — music
  10. field — farmland
  11. game — wild animals
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. pop — soda
  14. bat — the animal
  15. game — a match
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. land — to come down
  18. press — newspapers
  19. field — for sport
  20. land — ground
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. band — a ring
  24. bat — in an idiom

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