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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: face · cold · rest · snap · current · capital · bound · lie

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  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. face — to confront
  2. bound — obliged
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rest — what's left
  6. lie — to recline
  7. current — electric
  8. rest — a break
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. snap — to click
  11. capital — money
  12. face — to point toward
  13. bound — certain
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. capital — a city
  16. bound — tied together
  17. rest — what's left
  18. face — part of the head
  19. current — of water
  20. cold — an illness
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. current — happening now
  23. capital — a big letter
  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