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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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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: tear · court · pop · press · bore · capital

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. pop — soda
  3. court — for sport
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — money
  6. press — to push
  7. court — of a king
  8. bore — to drill
  9. pop — to visit
  10. capital — a city
  11. press — a publisher
  12. tear — from crying
  13. pop — music
  14. court — of law
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. press — newspapers

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