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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chest · capital · stem · net · hand · press · cabinet · fall

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. chest — of your body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. stem — to come from
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. press — a publisher
  8. press — to push
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. net — for catching
  11. capital — a city
  12. fall — to drop
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. net — after costs
  15. fall — the season
  16. chest — of your body
  17. hand — help
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. net — in sport
  20. chest — a box
  21. capital — money
  22. press — newspapers
  23. fall — to drop
  24. hand — part of the 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