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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 · pitch · land · sharp · plane · key · squash · clip

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. squash — the sport
  4. pitch — completely
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. squash — to crush
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — to cut
  9. press — to push
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. key — the most important part
  13. key — for a lock
  14. land — a country
  15. key — in music
  16. press — newspapers
  17. plane — a tool
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. land — ground
  20. sharp — clever
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. press — a publisher
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. land — to come down

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