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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.

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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: ball · clip · field · press · capital · rock · band · pitcher

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. press — a publisher
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a city
  5. clip — to cut
  6. field — for sport
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. ball — a great time
  9. band — a music group
  10. clip — a video
  11. rock — music
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. press — newspapers
  14. clip — for paper
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. field — a subject
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. rock — a stone
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. press — to push
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. band — a ring
  24. ball — a dance

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