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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — money
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — an illness
  5. fall — the season
  6. bound — certain
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. tube — a container
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. file — a tool
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — the underground
  15. bound — obliged
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. fall — to drop
  18. wound — an injury
  19. file — a document
  20. fall — to drop
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. bound — tied together
  23. file — a line of people
  24. wound — an injury

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