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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. file — a document
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. cold — an illness
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. mark — a grade
  11. press — to push
  12. stem — to come from
  13. file — a line of people
  14. press — a publisher
  15. mark — a trace
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. file — a tool
  18. press — newspapers
  19. prune — to trim
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cold — not warm
  22. vault — a safe
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitch — a sports field

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