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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: spring · fork · cell · pound · pitcher · bore · press · field

  1. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. field — a subject
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. press — a publisher
  5. press — to push
  6. pound — a weight
  7. cell — in biology
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. spring — of water
  12. field — for sport
  13. cell — a phone
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. bore — to drill
  16. spring — a coil
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. bore — to tire
  19. field — farmland
  20. spring — the season
  21. press — newspapers
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — a jug

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