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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 116 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: press · court · swing · capital · coach · tear

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — to play on
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. tear — to rip
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. tear — from crying
  9. swing — in golf
  10. court — of a king
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. capital — a city
  13. press — newspapers
  14. court — for sport
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. court — of law
  17. press — to push
  18. press — a publisher

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