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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.

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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — a country
  4. swing — to play on
  5. fall — to drop
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. capital — money
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — the season
  10. can — a tin
  11. capital — a city
  12. squash — to crush
  13. can — a tin
  14. land — ground
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. swing — music
  17. swing — in golf
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — to wash
  20. press — to push
  21. press — newspapers
  22. press — a publisher
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. squash — the sport

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