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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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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: lean · content · capital · press · game · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. capital — money
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. lean — thin
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. press — a publisher
  9. last — to go on
  10. content — happy
  11. press — newspapers
  12. press — to push
  13. content — the amount
  14. last — finally
  15. lean — to bend
  16. capital — a city
  17. game — a match
  18. game — wild animals

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