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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: straw · saw · rest · capital · lean · fall · bat · face

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. capital — money
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. fall — to drop
  5. saw — the tool
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. face — to point toward
  8. lean — to bend
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. rest — a break
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. rest — what's left
  15. capital — a city
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. saw — the tool
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. face — part of the head
  20. bat — the animal
  21. fall — the season
  22. face — to confront
  23. rest — what's left
  24. lean — thin

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