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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: swing · field · patient · mouse · wind · capital · face · press

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. press — to push
  5. press — newspapers
  6. swing — in golf
  7. field — farmland
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. field — for sport
  11. face — part of the head
  12. wind — moving air
  13. swing — music
  14. swing — to play on
  15. capital — a city
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. wind — moving air
  18. face — to point toward
  19. field — a subject
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. capital — money
  22. face — to confront
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. mouse — the animal

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