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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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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: sharp · bound · stick · cold · capital · row · file · rule

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. bound — tied together
  3. cold — an illness
  4. capital — money
  5. row — to paddle
  6. rule — government
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. file — a line of people
  9. rule — a law
  10. bound — obliged
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. capital — a city
  13. file — a document
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. row — a line
  16. cold — not warm
  17. file — a tool
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. bound — certain
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. sharp — clever

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