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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · field · scale · press · land · content · leaves · fall

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — the season
  3. field — a subject
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. land — to come down
  6. press — to push
  7. capital — a city
  8. capital — money
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — for sport
  11. press — a publisher
  12. fall — to drop
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. land — a country
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. press — newspapers
  19. scale — size or range
  20. content — happy
  21. content — the amount
  22. land — ground
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. scale — in music

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