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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: rash · wake · field · press · cell · pitch · bulb · rest

  1. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. press — a publisher
  3. bulb — for light
  4. field — farmland
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. bulb — for light
  7. rash — hasty
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. field — a subject
  10. pitch — completely
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. rest — what's left
  13. field — for sport
  14. cell — in biology
  15. wake — a trail
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. rest — a break
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. press — newspapers
  20. cell — a phone
  21. rest — what's left
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. press — to push
  24. pitch — a sports field

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