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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: capital · kid · press · rule · last · rash · spring · toast

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. press — a publisher
  3. press — to push
  4. last — final
  5. rule — government
  6. capital — money
  7. last — to go on
  8. toast — bread
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. spring — a coil
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. rash — a series
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. last — finally
  16. capital — a city
  17. spring — the season
  18. kid — child
  19. rash — hasty
  20. rule — a law
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. press — newspapers
  24. spring — of water

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