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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. kid — child
  3. band — a music group
  4. press — newspapers
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. kid — to tease
  7. cold — not warm
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. game — wild animals
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. press — to push
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. press — a publisher
  17. band — a ring
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. pitch — completely
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. capital — money
  24. game — a match

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