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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: hand · stick · capital · perch · pop · cold · fine · lean

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pop — to visit
  4. capital — a city
  5. pop — soda
  6. hand — help
  7. pop — music
  8. cold — not warm
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. lean — thin
  12. fine — all right
  13. capital — money
  14. hand — in cards
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. fine — high quality
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. lean — to bend
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. perch — the fish
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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