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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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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: press · bowl · mark · row · prune · chest · field · lie

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. chest — of your body
  3. field — for sport
  4. chest — of your body
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — to trim
  7. chest — a box
  8. press — newspapers
  9. field — farmland
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. row — a line
  15. press — to push
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. mark — a grade
  19. mark — a trace
  20. press — a publisher
  21. lie — to recline
  22. field — a subject
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. row — to paddle

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