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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: press · jam · capital · trunk · toast · file · bowl · kid

  1. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — in traffic
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. toast — bread
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. capital — money
  7. press — a publisher
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. press — newspapers
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. press — to push
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. file — a tool
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. capital — a city
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. file — a document
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. kid — to tease
  23. file — a line of people
  24. kid — child

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