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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.

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: cell · lean · press · chest · scale · straw · field · pitcher

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. press — newspapers
  3. scale — size or range
  4. chest — of your body
  5. field — for sport
  6. lean — to bend
  7. chest — a box
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. cell — in biology
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. cell — a phone
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. lean — thin
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. press — to push
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. press — a publisher
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. chest — of your body
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. field — farmland
  24. scale — in music

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