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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: nail · saw · cap · game · field · ground · press · wound

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. field — for sport
  3. ground — crushed
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. field — farmland
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. cap — a lid
  9. ground — the earth
  10. field — a subject
  11. ground — a position
  12. wound — an injury
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. press — a publisher
  15. game — a match
  16. cap — of ice
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. saw — the tool
  19. wound — an injury
  20. game — wild animals
  21. cap — a hat
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. press — newspapers
  24. saw — the tool

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