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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: capital · suit · row · fall · cold · firm · face · chip

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. suit — in cards
  4. face — to confront
  5. firm — a company
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — a city
  8. suit — to fit
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. fall — the season
  11. row — a line
  12. firm — decided
  13. row — to paddle
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. chip — for betting
  16. capital — money
  17. chip — to eat
  18. face — part of the head
  19. firm — steady
  20. face — to point toward
  21. fall — to drop
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. suit — clothes
  24. fall — to drop

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