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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: swing · land · roll · band · root · field · press · object

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. field — for sport
  3. land — to come down
  4. object — an aim
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. swing — to play on
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — a subject
  9. root — of a plant
  10. roll — a list
  11. land — a country
  12. land — ground
  13. object — to protest
  14. press — a publisher
  15. swing — music
  16. band — a music group
  17. object — a thing
  18. roll — a cake
  19. swing — in golf
  20. root — the cause
  21. band — a ring
  22. root — of a word
  23. press — newspapers
  24. band — a rubber band

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