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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: sharp · bay · chest · pitch · hand · press · wind · mark

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. pitch — completely
  4. wind — moving air
  5. sharp — clever
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. hand — in cards
  8. chest — a box
  9. chest — of your body
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. wind — moving air
  13. mark — a trace
  14. press — newspapers
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. mark — a grade
  17. hand — help
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. chest — of your body
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. press — to push
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. pitch — a sports field

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