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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: press · mine · staff · file · bore · swing · capital · calf

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. 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. press — to push
  2. staff — a stick
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. press — a publisher
  5. file — a line of people
  6. staff — employees
  7. bore — to drill
  8. bore — to tire
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. staff — employees
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. swing — in golf
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. press — newspapers
  17. swing — music
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. mine — for digging
  21. file — a document
  22. swing — to play on
  23. file — a tool
  24. 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