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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: rest · press · last · object · mark · mine · capital · wind

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. object — a thing
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — a break
  5. press — a publisher
  6. press — to push
  7. object — an aim
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. mark — a trace
  13. last — to go on
  14. press — newspapers
  15. capital — money
  16. last — final
  17. wind — moving air
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mark — a grade
  20. mine — for digging
  21. capital — a city
  22. wind — moving air
  23. rest — what's left
  24. last — finally

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