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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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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: wind · capital · toast · pit · saw · face · cap · snap

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. face — to confront
  3. toast — bread
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. cap — a lid
  6. cap — of ice
  7. wind — moving air
  8. capital — money
  9. pit — a hole
  10. saw — the tool
  11. face — to point toward
  12. saw — the tool
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. capital — a city
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. pit — in a race
  19. cap — a hat
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. snap — to click
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. face — part of the head

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