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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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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: hide · capital · bowl · branch · date · wound · pop · press

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. capital — a city
  6. branch — a division
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. pop — music
  11. capital — money
  12. wound — an injury
  13. date — the fruit
  14. pop — soda
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. press — a publisher
  17. press — to push
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. pop — to visit
  20. wound — an injury
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. press — newspapers
  24. bowl — a football final

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