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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 116 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: press · land · net · chip · shower · pitch · fork · squash

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. land — a country
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. chip — for betting
  6. press — a publisher
  7. chip — to eat
  8. shower — rain
  9. press — to push
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. pitch — completely
  12. net — after costs
  13. squash — the sport
  14. squash — to crush
  15. land — ground
  16. net — for catching
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. net — in sport
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. press — newspapers
  21. shower — to wash
  22. land — to come down
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. fork — in a road

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