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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: cold · lie · capital · temple · chair · fine · present · tear

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. present — a gift
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. fine — high quality
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. present — there
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. present — the time now
  9. chair — a leader
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. tear — from crying
  12. lie — to recline
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. cold — an illness
  18. capital — a city
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. capital — money
  21. cold — not warm
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. fine — all right
  24. lie — an untruth

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