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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: face · cap · field · kid · pop · cell · spring · press

  1. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. press — newspapers
  2. kid — to tease
  3. cell — in biology
  4. cell — a phone
  5. pop — soda
  6. cap — a lid
  7. spring — the season
  8. cap — a hat
  9. kid — child
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. face — to point toward
  12. field — farmland
  13. press — a publisher
  14. pop — to visit
  15. press — to push
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — a subject
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cap — of ice
  20. face — part of the head
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — a coil
  23. pop — music
  24. face — to confront

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