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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: season · net · pitch · staff · ground · lie · cold · press

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. ground — a position
  3. season — of the year
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. press — a publisher
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. net — in sport
  8. staff — employees
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. ground — crushed
  12. staff — a stick
  13. cold — an illness
  14. press — newspapers
  15. press — to push
  16. lie — to recline
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. staff — employees
  19. net — for catching
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. ground — the earth
  22. net — after costs
  23. pitch — completely
  24. cold — not warm

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