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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: capital · lie · bore · last · wind · cold · hand · chest

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. bore — to drill
  3. capital — money
  4. last — to go on
  5. lie — to recline
  6. hand — in cards
  7. cold — an illness
  8. last — finally
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wind — moving air
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. bore — to tire
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. last — final
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. chest — of your body
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. hand — help
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. capital — a city

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