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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: press · bark · season · pitcher · bowl · cell · cue · net

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. press — to push
  6. cue — a signal
  7. cell — a phone
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. bark — to shout
  10. cue — for pool
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. press — a publisher
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — in biology
  15. net — in sport
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. net — after costs
  18. press — newspapers
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. cue — a hint
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. net — for catching
  23. season — in sport
  24. bark — of a tree

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