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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: shower · perch · press · key · trunk · kick · file · capital

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. press — newspapers
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. file — a document
  9. perch — the fish
  10. shower — to wash
  11. file — a line of people
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. key — for a lock
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. key — in music
  19. shower — rain
  20. kick — in football
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. key — the most important part
  23. press — to push
  24. file — a tool

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