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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: key · chair · pitch · cold · vault · press

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. press — to push
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. press — a publisher
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. pitch — completely
  8. chair — a leader
  9. key — for a lock
  10. key — in music
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. vault — a safe
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. key — the most important part
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. cold — an illness
  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