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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.

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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: ground · press · bound · swing · cap · land · patient · row

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. ground — crushed
  3. land — to come down
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. cap — a lid
  6. swing — in golf
  7. swing — to play on
  8. land — a country
  9. ground — a position
  10. cap — a hat
  11. bound — obliged
  12. bound — certain
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. bound — tied together
  16. press — a publisher
  17. press — to push
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. row — a line
  20. swing — music
  21. press — newspapers
  22. ground — the earth
  23. row — to paddle
  24. land — ground

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