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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: march · press · chest · lash · capital · firm · board · fork

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  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. fork — a garden tool
  2. firm — decided
  3. board — to get on
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. firm — steady
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. board — a committee
  9. capital — a city
  10. chest — of your body
  11. march — music
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. fork — in a road
  14. press — to push
  15. press — newspapers
  16. firm — a company
  17. chest — a box
  18. march — the month
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. capital — money
  21. press — a publisher
  22. march — the month
  23. fork — to eat with
  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