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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 120 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. The water is too ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. face — part of the head
  3. capital — money
  4. fall — to drop
  5. lie — to recline
  6. capital — a city
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. track — a path
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. rash — hasty
  13. track — to keep track
  14. fall — the season
  15. track — a song
  16. rash — a series
  17. face — to point toward
  18. face — to confront
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. fall — to drop
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. dip — to sink

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