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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: track · net · season · branch · rest · press · pitcher · cold

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. season — of the year
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. rest — what's left
  5. press — to push
  6. rest — what's left
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. cold — an illness
  12. branch — a division
  13. track — a song
  14. press — a publisher
  15. season — in sport
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. track — to keep track
  19. net — after costs
  20. net — in sport
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. press — newspapers
  23. net — for catching
  24. rest — a break

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