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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: press · fork · chair · trunk · capital · content

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  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. content — the amount
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. content — happy
  4. press — a publisher
  5. chair — a leader
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. press — newspapers
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. fork — in a road
  13. capital — a city
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. press — to push
  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