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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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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: bear · press · pitch · band · capital · chest · tube · temple

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. press — a publisher
  3. capital — money
  4. chest — of your body
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. press — to push
  7. bear — the animal
  8. tube — a container
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. tube — the underground
  11. bear — the animal
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. press — newspapers
  17. capital — a city
  18. chest — of your body
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. chest — a box
  21. band — a ring
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. pitch — completely
  24. band — a music group

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