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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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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: leaves · capital · press · calf · tear · content · bat · wind

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. content — happy
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. capital — a city
  5. press — newspapers
  6. wind — moving air
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. tear — to rip
  10. bat — the animal
  11. wind — moving air
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. tear — from crying
  15. press — to push
  16. tear — from crying
  17. content — the amount
  18. press — a publisher
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. capital — money

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