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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 116 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: leaves · clip · land · lie · staff · wake · capital · cold

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. wake — a trail
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — to cut
  13. land — ground
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. capital — a city
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. clip — a video
  18. land — a country
  19. staff — employees
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. land — to come down
  22. capital — money
  23. lie — to recline
  24. staff — employees

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