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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: pitch · band · kid · tear · field · deal · wind · press

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. pitch — completely
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. band — a music group
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. band — a ring
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. kid — to tease
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. wind — moving air
  14. press — a publisher
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — a subject
  17. tear — from crying
  18. press — newspapers
  19. press — to push
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. kid — child
  22. wind — moving air
  23. deal — to handle
  24. band — a rubber band

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