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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: kid · key · wake · press · racket · capital · squash · fall

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. press — newspapers
  5. squash — to crush
  6. capital — a city
  7. press — to push
  8. fall — to drop
  9. key — for a lock
  10. capital — money
  11. press — a publisher
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. squash — the sport
  14. wake — a trail
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. fall — the season
  18. fall — to drop
  19. key — the most important part
  20. key — in music
  21. kid — child
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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