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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: coach · cold · capital · net · kid · bank · rush · press

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rush — hurry
  5. cold — not warm
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. capital — a city
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. kid — to tease
  10. net — after costs
  11. bank — for money
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. net — for catching
  14. press — a publisher
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. cold — an illness
  17. capital — money
  18. kid — child
  19. bank — of a river
  20. press — newspapers
  21. net — in sport
  22. bank — for money
  23. press — to push
  24. rush — a thrill

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