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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.

Make a worksheet

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: press · clip · date · fork · pitch · chair

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  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. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. clip — a video
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. press — to push
  6. chair — a leader
  7. clip — for paper
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. fork — in a road
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. clip — to cut
  13. press — newspapers
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. pitch — completely
  16. date — the fruit
  17. fork — to eat with
  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