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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: face · capital · race · wind · march · stand · suit · chair

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. suit — in cards
  4. face — part of the head
  5. chair — a leader
  6. march — the month
  7. race — humankind
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. capital — money
  10. face — to confront
  11. face — to point toward
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. march — the month
  15. capital — a city
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. race — a contest
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. race — the arms race
  21. march — music
  22. suit — clothes
  23. suit — to fit
  24. capital — a big letter

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