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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: bass · cold · capital · tube · bowl · press · pop · mark

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. mark — a trace
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. bass — the fish
  10. tube — a container
  11. mark — a grade
  12. press — newspapers
  13. pop — to visit
  14. press — to push
  15. pop — music
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. capital — money
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. press — a publisher
  21. capital — a city
  22. bass — low music
  23. pop — soda
  24. bass — the instrument

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