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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: fall · press · rush · game · court · bowl · face · capital

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. court — of law
  5. face — part of the head
  6. face — to confront
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. court — of a king
  9. game — a match
  10. rush — hurry
  11. press — a publisher
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. fall — the season
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — to drop
  18. capital — money
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. face — to point toward
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. press — to push
  23. press — newspapers
  24. court — for sport

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