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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: pitch · cold · bat · trunk · press · club · toast · rash

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. club — for dancing
  3. pitch — completely
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. press — to push
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. club — a group
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. press — a publisher
  18. rash — a series
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. press — newspapers
  22. rash — hasty
  23. club — for golf
  24. rash — on the skin

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