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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.

Make a worksheet

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: spell · tear · band · press · squash · capital · object · clip

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. capital — money
  3. press — to push
  4. spell — magic
  5. squash — to crush
  6. press — a publisher
  7. object — a thing
  8. clip — for paper
  9. tear — from crying
  10. object — to protest
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. band — a ring
  13. squash — the sport
  14. object — an aim
  15. capital — a city
  16. band — a music group
  17. clip — to cut
  18. press — newspapers
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. tear — from crying
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. clip — a video
  23. spell — a short time
  24. tear — to rip

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