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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: key · capital · ball · bark · rock · press · spring · wax

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. ball — a dance
  3. key — the most important part
  4. press — newspapers
  5. rock — music
  6. press — to push
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. spring — the season
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. wax — to grow
  11. key — for a lock
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. rock — a stone
  14. key — in music
  15. bark — to shout
  16. capital — money
  17. ball — a great time
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. spring — a coil
  20. press — a publisher
  21. spring — of water
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. bark — of a tree

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