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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
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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: court · clip · capital · toast · stock · press · face · file

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. file — a tool
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — to cut
  5. face — to point toward
  6. stock — shares
  7. toast — bread
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. capital — money
  10. face — part of the head
  11. face — to confront
  12. file — a document
  13. capital — a city
  14. court — for sport
  15. press — to push
  16. stock — goods
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. court — of a king
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. file — a line of people
  22. press — newspapers
  23. court — of law
  24. clip — a video

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