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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: rash · wake · field · press · cell · pitch

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  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. pitch — completely
  2. rash — hasty
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. field — for sport
  7. wake — a trail
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cell — a phone
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. press — to push
  13. field — a subject
  14. press — newspapers
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. rash — a series
  17. field — farmland
  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