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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: shower · mine · pitch · kick · press · row · field · fan

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. kick — in football
  3. press — a publisher
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. field — farmland
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. field — a subject
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. field — for sport
  14. mine — for digging
  15. row — to paddle
  16. press — newspapers
  17. row — a line
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. pitch — completely
  20. press — to push
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — to wash
  24. fan — to cool the air

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