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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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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: bark · press · pit · arm · wind · mouse · file · field

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. press — to push
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. wind — moving air
  10. file — a tool
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. wind — moving air
  13. pit — in a race
  14. pit — a hole
  15. press — newspapers
  16. bark — to shout
  17. field — a subject
  18. file — a line of people
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. press — a publisher
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. file — a document
  24. field — farmland

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