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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: cold · cell · capital · can · press · wind · bowl · rest

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. can — a tin
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cell — in biology
  8. press — to push
  9. capital — a city
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. press — newspapers
  13. cell — a phone
  14. rest — what's left
  15. can — to be able to
  16. can — a tin
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — an illness
  20. rest — a break
  21. wind — moving air
  22. capital — money
  23. rest — what's left
  24. bowl — to roll

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