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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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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. press — a publisher
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. scale — size or range
  7. swing — music
  8. snap — to click
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. scale — in music
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. swing — in golf
  13. pitch — completely
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. game — wild animals
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. swing — to play on
  21. game — a match
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. press — newspapers
  24. scale — for weighing

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