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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: wake · stand · roll · cell · lean · pass · capital · hand

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. capital — a city
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. hand — help
  7. capital — money
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. wake — a trail
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. lean — to bend
  13. roll — a cake
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. pass — a permit
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. roll — a list
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. hand — in cards
  21. cell — a phone
  22. lean — thin
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. cell — in biology

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