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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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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: clip · fall · capital · press · lean · fan · cue · game

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. capital — money
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fall — to drop
  5. clip — to cut
  6. lean — thin
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. capital — a city
  9. game — a match
  10. cue — for pool
  11. press — to push
  12. lean — to bend
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. clip — for paper
  15. press — newspapers
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. cue — a hint
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. game — wild animals
  20. fall — to drop
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. clip — a video
  23. fall — the season
  24. cue — a signal

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