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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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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: bore · face · patient · press · band · wind · chair · capital

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. wind — moving air
  4. press — a publisher
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. press — newspapers
  7. face — to confront
  8. bore — to tire
  9. band — a ring
  10. wind — moving air
  11. band — a music group
  12. bore — to drill
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. press — to push
  19. face — part of the head
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. chair — a leader
  22. face — to point toward
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. capital — a city

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