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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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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: press · capital · pound · kid · foot · pop · content · plane

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. content — happy
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. press — to push
  6. pound — a weight
  7. pop — to visit
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. content — the amount
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. plane — a tool
  14. kid — to tease
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. capital — money
  17. pop — music
  18. capital — a city
  19. press — a publisher
  20. pop — soda
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. kid — child
  23. foot — a measure
  24. press — newspapers

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