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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 120 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: march · capital · prune · patient · pop · field · press · pit

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. 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. field — farmland
  2. pit — a hole
  3. press — newspapers
  4. march — the month
  5. capital — a city
  6. field — a subject
  7. march — the month
  8. pop — to visit
  9. press — to push
  10. capital — money
  11. pop — soda
  12. pop — music
  13. field — for sport
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. march — music
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. prune — to trim
  20. press — a publisher
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. prune — to trim
  23. pit — in a race
  24. 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