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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. fall — the season
  3. drill — the tool
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. pass — a permit
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. fall — to drop
  11. lie — to recline
  12. cold — not warm
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cold — an illness
  15. capital — a city
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. drill — army training
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. drill — a practice
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. wind — moving air

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