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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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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: march · snap · lie · capital · land · mug · wind · fan

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. mug — a face
  4. land — to come down
  5. wind — moving air
  6. mug — to rob
  7. land — ground
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. march — the month
  11. march — the month
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. capital — a city
  14. capital — money
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. mug — a cup
  18. wind — moving air
  19. snap — to click
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. march — music
  22. lie — to recline
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. land — a country

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