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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
468
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: racket · patient · net · cold · band · straw · capital · press

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. press — to push
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. capital — a city
  8. net — in sport
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. press — newspapers
  11. band — a ring
  12. net — after costs
  13. cold — not warm
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. band — a music group
  19. net — for catching
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. press — a publisher
  22. cold — an illness
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. racket — a loud noise

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