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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: net · mine · press · stem · fall · field · court · mate

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. press — to push
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. fall — the season
  6. fall — to drop
  7. court — for sport
  8. mate — a partner
  9. court — of a king
  10. mate — a friend
  11. mine — for digging
  12. field — farmland
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — to come from
  15. net — for catching
  16. court — of law
  17. field — for sport
  18. net — in sport
  19. press — a publisher
  20. mate — to breed
  21. net — after costs
  22. field — a subject
  23. press — newspapers
  24. mine — an explosive

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