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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · shower · bark · straw · mate · pitch · spring · cue

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. pitch — completely
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. spring — the season
  5. press — a publisher
  6. cue — for pool
  7. mate — a partner
  8. cue — a signal
  9. mate — to breed
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bark — to shout
  12. spring — a coil
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — to wash
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. mate — a friend
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. spring — of water
  22. cue — a hint
  23. press — newspapers
  24. straw — dry grass

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