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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: wind · capital · tear · cap · leaves · file

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. capital — a city
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — to rip
  6. wind — moving air
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. file — a line of people
  9. cap — of ice
  10. file — a document
  11. capital — money
  12. cap — a hat
  13. cap — a lid
  14. file — a tool
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. tear — from crying
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. 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