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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: fork · cold · press · kid · vault · chair · capital · rest

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. capital — a city
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. kid — to tease
  8. capital — money
  9. rest — what's left
  10. chair — a leader
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. press — newspapers
  15. fork — in a road
  16. rest — a break
  17. rest — what's left
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — not warm
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. press — to push
  22. kid — child
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. press — a publisher

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