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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 120 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: clip · press · can · spring · cap · racket · field · chest

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  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. press — to push
  3. clip — to cut
  4. can — a tin
  5. field — a subject
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. cap — of ice
  8. field — farmland
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. spring — the season
  11. cap — a hat
  12. press — newspapers
  13. press — a publisher
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. can — a tin
  17. can — to be able to
  18. chest — of your body
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — a coil
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. clip — for paper
  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