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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: race · clip · field · fan · cap · press · mine · rest

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. rest — what's left
  3. field — farmland
  4. race — the arms race
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. press — to push
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. cap — of ice
  9. clip — for paper
  10. rest — a break
  11. mine — for digging
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. press — newspapers
  14. race — a contest
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. clip — to cut
  17. cap — a hat
  18. race — humankind
  19. rest — what's left
  20. field — a subject
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. press — a publisher
  23. cap — a lid
  24. clip — a video

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