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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: press · capital · row · plane · kid · mate

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. 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. row — to paddle
  2. press — to push
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. mate — to breed
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. row — a line
  7. plane — a tool
  8. kid — child
  9. capital — a city
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. mate — a partner
  13. mate — a friend
  14. kid — to tease
  15. press — newspapers
  16. press — a publisher
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. 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