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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: shower · mate · press · kick · pitch · bore

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  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. kick — with a leg
  3. shower — to wash
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. bore — to tire
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — to breed
  10. press — a publisher
  11. pitch — completely
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. mate — a friend
  15. shower — rain
  16. kick — in football
  17. bore — to drill
  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