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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: bound · foot · pitcher · press · bear · content · spring · field

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. bear — the animal
  3. spring — of water
  4. press — newspapers
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. spring — the season
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. foot — a measure
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. press — to push
  12. content — happy
  13. bear — the animal
  14. field — a subject
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. bound — obliged
  17. spring — a coil
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. field — farmland
  20. bound — certain
  21. content — the amount
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. bound — tied together
  24. field — for sport

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