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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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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: pitch · stem · rest · press · march · clip · club · hide

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. stem — to come from
  3. press — a publisher
  4. club — a group
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. press — to push
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. rest — what's left
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. clip — to cut
  13. club — for golf
  14. press — newspapers
  15. march — the month
  16. club — for dancing
  17. clip — for paper
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. rest — what's left
  20. pitch — completely
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. clip — a video
  24. rest — a break

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