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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: swing · field · cell · press · net · land · spell · chair

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  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. chair — to sit on
  2. land — to come down
  3. net — after costs
  4. field — a subject
  5. spell — magic
  6. spell — letters
  7. cell — a phone
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. cell — in biology
  10. press — to push
  11. net — in sport
  12. spell — a short time
  13. chair — a leader
  14. net — for catching
  15. press — a publisher
  16. press — newspapers
  17. land — ground
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. field — for sport
  20. swing — to play on
  21. swing — music
  22. swing — in golf
  23. field — farmland
  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