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

Word bank: chair · pitch · kid · racket · press · staff

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. staff — employees
  4. press — a publisher
  5. pitch — completely
  6. press — to push
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — child
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. staff — employees
  14. staff — a stick
  15. chair — a leader
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. press — newspapers

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