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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 120 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: lie · face · cap · cold · bowl · capital · band · racket

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. face — to point toward
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. cap — a lid
  9. band — a ring
  10. cold — an illness
  11. capital — money
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cap — a hat
  14. face — to confront
  15. capital — a city
  16. face — part of the head
  17. cap — of ice
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. band — a music group
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. racket — for tennis

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