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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: press · field · bore · lash · last · pitcher · tube · chip

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. field — farmland
  3. bore — to tire
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. last — final
  6. tube — the underground
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. bore — to drill
  11. last — finally
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. field — a subject
  15. press — newspapers
  16. chip — to eat
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. chip — for betting
  19. field — for sport
  20. tube — a container
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. press — to push
  24. last — to go on

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