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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: date · wind · chair · capital · key · fall · press · drill

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. press — a publisher
  3. press — to push
  4. chair — a leader
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. press — newspapers
  7. date — the fruit
  8. drill — a practice
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. capital — money
  11. wind — moving air
  12. fall — to drop
  13. wind — moving air
  14. key — in music
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. drill — the tool
  17. key — the most important part
  18. key — for a lock
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. drill — army training
  23. capital — a city
  24. wind — to turn a key

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