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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: club · march · press · face · bat · pitcher · kick · kid

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. kick — in football
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. press — to push
  6. face — to point toward
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. press — newspapers
  9. bat — the animal
  10. club — a group
  11. march — the month
  12. kid — child
  13. march — the month
  14. kid — to tease
  15. press — a publisher
  16. club — for dancing
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. march — music
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. face — part of the head
  24. face — to confront

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