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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · pitch · press · field · spell · mate · chest · clip

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. mate — a partner
  3. clip — a video
  4. rash — hasty
  5. rash — a series
  6. chest — of your body
  7. field — for sport
  8. press — to push
  9. spell — letters
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. chest — a box
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — to cut
  14. pitch — completely
  15. press — newspapers
  16. mate — to breed
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. field — a subject
  19. mate — a friend
  20. field — farmland
  21. chest — of your body
  22. press — a publisher
  23. spell — a short time
  24. rash — on the skin

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