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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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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: wave · lean · straw · charge · arm · cold · face · capital

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. lean — to bend
  3. cold — an illness
  4. charge — electricity
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. lean — thin
  10. face — part of the head
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. capital — money
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — a city
  19. face — to confront
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. face — to point toward
  22. charge — in control
  23. charge — a price
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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