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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 · staff · jam · bat · wax · clip · pitch · face

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. clip — for paper
  3. staff — a stick
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. clip — a video
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. face — to point toward
  8. wax — to grow
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. staff — employees
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. press — to push
  16. face — to confront
  17. clip — to cut
  18. staff — employees
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — the animal
  21. press — a publisher
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. pitch — completely
  24. press — newspapers

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