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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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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 · press · band · foot · chip · mate · field · tear

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. swing — to play on
  3. field — for sport
  4. tear — to rip
  5. band — a music group
  6. press — a publisher
  7. chip — to eat
  8. chip — for betting
  9. swing — in golf
  10. band — a ring
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. foot — a measure
  17. field — farmland
  18. mate — to breed
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. swing — music
  21. field — a subject
  22. mate — a partner
  23. press — newspapers
  24. mate — a friend

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