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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: content · degree · capital · bay · pound · patient · cabinet · press

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. press — to push
  3. content — the amount
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. press — a publisher
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. pound — a weight
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — an amount
  20. content — happy
  21. press — newspapers
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — money
  24. patient — a sick person

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