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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 120 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: pitch · wake · cold · band · press · charge · foot · fall

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. fall — to drop
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wake — a trail
  5. pitch — completely
  6. press — to push
  7. foot — a measure
  8. charge — a price
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. charge — in control
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. press — newspapers
  14. band — a ring
  15. charge — electricity
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fall — to drop
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. band — a music group
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. fall — the season
  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