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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: lean · track · capital · can · lie · race · chest · cold

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. can — to be able to
  3. can — a tin
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. track — to keep track
  7. cold — not warm
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. chest — a box
  10. capital — money
  11. chest — of your body
  12. race — a contest
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. can — a tin
  15. lie — to recline
  16. track — a path
  17. race — humankind
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. track — a song
  20. lean — thin
  21. capital — a city
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. lean — to bend
  24. race — the arms race

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