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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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Word bank
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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: wind · current · press · clip · club · pitch

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. club — for golf
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — for paper
  8. press — newspapers
  9. clip — to cut
  10. current — of water
  11. pitch — completely
  12. club — a group
  13. current — happening now
  14. press — to push
  15. club — for dancing
  16. current — electric
  17. wind — moving air
  18. press — a publisher

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