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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: wake · chest · rest · capital · wound · sharp · fall · bank

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. rest — what's left
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — the season
  9. rest — what's left
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. rest — a break
  12. chest — a box
  13. wound — an injury
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bank — of a river
  16. sharp — clever
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. bank — for money
  21. chest — of your body
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wake — before a funeral

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