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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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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. capital — a city
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. season — of the year
  7. game — a match
  8. chest — of your body
  9. press — newspapers
  10. chest — a box
  11. capital — money
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wind — moving air
  15. game — wild animals
  16. press — to push
  17. press — a publisher
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. wind — moving air
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. season — in sport
  24. mouse — the animal

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