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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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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: fall · squash · dip · temple · capital · cold · last · press

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. last — to go on
  5. fall — to drop
  6. last — final
  7. squash — to crush
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. fall — the season
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. press — newspapers
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. dip — to sink
  14. last — finally
  15. capital — money
  16. cold — not warm
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. press — to push
  21. fall — to drop
  22. cold — an illness
  23. capital — a city
  24. squash — the sport

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