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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 116 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: wake · drill · press · mine · land · pitcher · hide · field

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. field — for sport
  3. land — a country
  4. field — a subject
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. drill — the tool
  8. drill — a practice
  9. wake — a trail
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. field — farmland
  12. press — newspapers
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. land — ground
  16. land — to come down
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. press — a publisher
  20. drill — army training
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. mine — for digging
  24. press — to push

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