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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: capital · lie · dip · net · spring · press · coach · shower

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. capital — a city
  3. press — a publisher
  4. press — to push
  5. spring — of water
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. shower — to wash
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. net — after costs
  10. capital — money
  11. spring — a coil
  12. net — for catching
  13. dip — to sink
  14. lie — to recline
  15. net — in sport
  16. spring — the season
  17. press — newspapers
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — rain

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