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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: bowl · press · pitch · land · bat · perch

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. land — to come down
  3. press — to push
  4. land — a country
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. press — a publisher
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. press — newspapers
  13. perch — the fish
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. land — ground
  17. bat — the animal
  18. pitch — completely

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