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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: press · fall · cold · patient · pitch · branch · mug · ground

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. press — to push
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. mug — a face
  9. ground — a position
  10. fall — the season
  11. mug — a cup
  12. mug — to rob
  13. ground — crushed
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. branch — a division
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. ground — the earth
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — to drop
  23. press — newspapers
  24. press — a publisher

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