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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: squash · net · capital · fall · cold · bound · rest · chair

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. squash — to crush
  3. capital — a city
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. rest — a break
  6. rest — what's left
  7. bound — obliged
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — for catching
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. net — in sport
  14. chair — a leader
  15. rest — what's left
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bound — tied together
  18. cold — not warm
  19. capital — money
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. fall — the season
  22. squash — the sport
  23. bound — certain
  24. cold — an illness

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