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

Word bank: chest · capital · firm · chip · wind · face

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a city
  4. face — to confront
  5. face — to point toward
  6. chip — to eat
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. chest — of your body
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. face — part of the head
  11. chest — a box
  12. wind — moving air
  13. firm — a company
  14. chest — of your body
  15. firm — decided
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. chip — for betting
  18. firm — steady

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