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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: board · face · wax · press · capital · chip · spring · bat

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. face — part of the head
  3. press — a publisher
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. chip — to eat
  6. board — a committee
  7. board — to get on
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. press — to push
  11. bat — the animal
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. spring — a coil
  14. chip — for betting
  15. spring — the season
  16. face — to point toward
  17. press — newspapers
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. spring — of water
  20. capital — money
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. capital — a city
  23. face — to confront
  24. chip — in a computer

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