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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 116 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: wound · stand · racket · press · kick · capital · cell · wax

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. wound — an injury
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. press — to push
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. press — a publisher
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. wax — to grow
  13. kick — in football
  14. stand — to bear
  15. cell — in biology
  16. press — newspapers
  17. wound — an injury
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — a city
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. cell — a phone
  23. capital — money
  24. racket — for tennis

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