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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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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 · cell · fan · chip · rest · game · press · face

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. game — a match
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. press — to push
  7. face — part of the head
  8. face — to confront
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. face — to point toward
  11. capital — a city
  12. rest — a break
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. rest — what's left
  15. cell — a phone
  16. capital — money
  17. press — newspapers
  18. rest — what's left
  19. chip — for betting
  20. chip — to eat
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — in biology
  23. game — wild animals
  24. capital — a big letter

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