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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: march · pitch · cap · bark · branch · press · pit · bat

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cap — of ice
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. pit — in a race
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. press — a publisher
  12. press — newspapers
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. bark — to shout
  17. press — to push
  18. cap — a lid
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. pitch — completely
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. march — the month
  23. pit — a hole
  24. branch — a division

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