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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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Word bank
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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: coach · wind · face · capital · craft · cold

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. capital — money
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. cold — not warm
  6. face — to confront
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. cold — an illness
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. craft — a skill
  14. capital — a city
  15. craft — boats
  16. face — to point toward
  17. wind — moving air
  18. face — part of the head

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