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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 120 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 · cold · foot · file · firm · wind · march · press

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wind — moving air
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. firm — steady
  8. march — music
  9. firm — a company
  10. cold — an illness
  11. press — a publisher
  12. march — the month
  13. press — newspapers
  14. foot — a measure
  15. file — a tool
  16. press — to push
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. pitch — completely
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. file — a document
  21. march — the month
  22. wind — moving air
  23. firm — decided
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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