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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. chest — a box
  3. net — in sport
  4. cell — in biology
  5. hand — in cards
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. chest — of your body
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. press — newspapers
  13. net — after costs
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — a phone
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. press — a publisher
  19. pitch — completely
  20. net — for catching
  21. cold — an illness
  22. press — to push
  23. cold — not warm
  24. hand — help

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