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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: press · chest · hide · pit · pitch · clip · perch · cap

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. cap — a hat
  3. clip — for paper
  4. pitch — completely
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. pit — a hole
  8. pit — in a race
  9. press — to push
  10. press — a publisher
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. chest — of your body
  14. clip — to cut
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. cap — a lid
  17. clip — a video
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cap — of ice
  20. chest — a box
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. press — newspapers
  24. hide — to keep secret

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