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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: shower · wake · mate · pound · press · deal · mug · pitch

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. pitch — completely
  6. mug — a cup
  7. press — to push
  8. mate — a friend
  9. shower — rain
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. mate — a partner
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. pound — a weight
  15. shower — to wash
  16. mug — to rob
  17. mug — a face
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. press — newspapers
  21. mate — to breed
  22. deal — to handle
  23. wake — a trail
  24. press — a publisher

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