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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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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: capital · chair · cold · arm · ruler · fan · snap · rush

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. chair — a leader
  13. capital — a city
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. rush — hurry
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. snap — to click
  21. cold — not warm
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. cold — an illness

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