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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: object · wound · capital · land · cabinet · press · dip · straw

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. land — ground
  3. wound — an injury
  4. capital — money
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. press — to push
  8. object — to protest
  9. press — a publisher
  10. land — to come down
  11. press — newspapers
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. dip — to sink
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. object — a thing
  22. wound — an injury
  23. object — an aim
  24. land — a country

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