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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: ball · chair · bark · press · nail · capital · swing · land

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. swing — in golf
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. press — newspapers
  6. capital — a city
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. chair — a leader
  10. press — a publisher
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. land — a country
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. swing — to play on
  15. land — ground
  16. land — to come down
  17. swing — music
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. ball — a great time
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. capital — money
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. ball — a dance
  24. bark — to shout

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