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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. stem — to come from
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. press — a publisher
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pitch — completely
  8. press — newspapers
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. bat — the animal
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. perch — the fish
  17. sharp — clever
  18. wind — moving air
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. wind — moving air
  24. sharp — with an edge

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