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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.

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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: rule · tear · ruler · chest · rash · press · capital · wind

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. press — to push
  3. rule — government
  4. chest — a box
  5. tear — to rip
  6. rash — hasty
  7. capital — money
  8. tear — from crying
  9. chest — of your body
  10. press — newspapers
  11. rash — a series
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. rule — a law
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. wind — moving air
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. wind — moving air
  18. tear — from crying
  19. press — a publisher
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. chest — of your body

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