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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: trunk · press · wind · kid · pitch · foot · game · firm

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  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. kid — child
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. press — to push
  6. game — wild animals
  7. firm — decided
  8. wind — moving air
  9. game — a match
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. firm — steady
  12. press — newspapers
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. foot — a measure
  17. wind — moving air
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. firm — a company
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. kid — to tease
  23. pitch — completely
  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