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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: press · face · swing · ground · capital · toast · trunk · tube

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — part of the head
  3. press — a publisher
  4. toast — bread
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. swing — music
  8. ground — a position
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — money
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. tube — a container
  13. face — to point toward
  14. capital — a city
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. press — to push
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. swing — to play on
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. press — newspapers
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ground — the earth
  23. tube — the underground
  24. swing — in golf

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