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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: bowl · current · cold · wind · calf · perch · capital · lie

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. lie — to recline
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. current — of water
  6. capital — money
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. capital — a city
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. current — happening now
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. current — electric
  23. perch — the fish
  24. cold — the Cold War

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