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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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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: coach · object · press · drill · net · cold · capital · wound

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. drill — the tool
  3. net — for catching
  4. object — a thing
  5. cold — an illness
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. press — a publisher
  8. drill — army training
  9. wound — an injury
  10. drill — a practice
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. capital — a city
  13. net — after costs
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. object — an aim
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. press — newspapers
  19. wound — an injury
  20. capital — money
  21. cold — not warm
  22. net — in sport
  23. press — to push
  24. object — to protest

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