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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.

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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. press — a publisher
  3. last — final
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. press — newspapers
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. last — finally
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. court — of law
  12. mark — a grade
  13. mark — a trace
  14. court — of a king
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. plane — a tool
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. court — for sport
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. wind — moving air
  23. last — to go on
  24. capital — money

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