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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: pitch · club · press · clip · branch · cold · charge · deal

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. branch — a division
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. clip — for paper
  5. press — newspapers
  6. club — for dancing
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. club — a group
  9. clip — a video
  10. pitch — completely
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. cold — an illness
  13. press — a publisher
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. charge — a price
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. charge — in control
  19. deal — to handle
  20. charge — electricity
  21. clip — to cut
  22. club — for golf
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. cold — not warm

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