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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: file · press · tear · wake · fan · field · kick · clip

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. field — for sport
  3. press — to push
  4. file — a line of people
  5. field — a subject
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. field — farmland
  9. press — a publisher
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. wake — a trail
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. kick — in football
  14. file — a tool
  15. clip — a video
  16. press — newspapers
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tear — from crying
  19. clip — for paper
  20. tear — from crying
  21. clip — to cut
  22. file — a document
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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