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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 · plane · deal · chest · press · wind · bore · land

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. land — to come down
  3. chest — of your body
  4. land — a country
  5. land — ground
  6. bore — to tire
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wind — moving air
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. press — newspapers
  11. bore — to drill
  12. press — a publisher
  13. wind — moving air
  14. plane — a tool
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. chest — of your body
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. deal — to handle
  22. chest — a box
  23. capital — a city
  24. press — to push

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