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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: press · shower · leaves · wound · field · craft · march · fan

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. field — a subject
  4. wound — an injury
  5. press — a publisher
  6. craft — a skill
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. march — music
  11. press — to push
  12. march — the month
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. craft — boats
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. shower — rain
  18. field — for sport
  19. field — farmland
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. shower — to wash
  22. press — newspapers
  23. wound — an injury
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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