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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: rest · present · root · press · date · fall · field · kid

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. kid — to tease
  3. fall — the season
  4. press — a publisher
  5. kid — child
  6. root — of a plant
  7. field — for sport
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — to drop
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. root — of a word
  13. field — farmland
  14. press — to push
  15. present — a gift
  16. date — the fruit
  17. rest — what's left
  18. present — the time now
  19. field — a subject
  20. rest — a break
  21. press — newspapers
  22. present — there
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. root — the cause

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