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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. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. capital — a city
  3. wind — moving air
  4. press — a publisher
  5. bound — certain
  6. field — for sport
  7. present — the time now
  8. press — to push
  9. present — a gift
  10. tube — a container
  11. wind — moving air
  12. tube — the underground
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. bound — obliged
  15. capital — money
  16. field — farmland
  17. bound — tied together
  18. field — a subject
  19. press — newspapers
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. present — there
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. roll — a cake

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