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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: capital · key · fine · press · present · cold · mate · content

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. present — a gift
  3. key — in music
  4. key — for a lock
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. present — the time now
  8. present — there
  9. capital — a city
  10. content — happy
  11. press — newspapers
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. fine — all right
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. capital — money
  16. press — a publisher
  17. cold — not warm
  18. press — to push
  19. fine — high quality
  20. content — the amount
  21. mate — a partner
  22. cold — an illness
  23. key — the most important part
  24. mate — to breed

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