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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pound — a weight
  6. mate — a friend
  7. chest — a box
  8. wind — moving air
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. chair — a leader
  11. press — to push
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. press — a publisher
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. mate — to breed
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. chest — of your body
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. press — newspapers
  22. mate — a partner
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. pitch — completely

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