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

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. rush — hurry
  3. bulb — for light
  4. press — a publisher
  5. land — to come down
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. file — a document
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. bulb — for light
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. file — a tool
  13. land — a country
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. bat — the animal
  18. branch — a division
  19. land — ground
  20. press — to push
  21. file — a line of people
  22. pitch — completely
  23. press — newspapers
  24. bat — for baseball

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