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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. bat — the animal
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitch — completely
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. press — a publisher
  8. land — a country
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. land — ground
  11. band — a ring
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. march — the month
  14. press — newspapers
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. press — to push
  19. shower — to wash
  20. march — the month
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. march — music
  23. shower — rain
  24. band — a music group

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