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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 116 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: fine · cold · mate · capital · pop · lean · land · lie

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. cold — not warm
  3. fine — all right
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. capital — money
  6. mate — a friend
  7. pop — soda
  8. lean — thin
  9. mate — a partner
  10. pop — to visit
  11. lie — to recline
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. land — a country
  14. land — ground
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fine — high quality
  18. mate — to breed
  19. capital — a city
  20. lean — to bend
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. pop — music
  23. land — to come down
  24. lie — an untruth

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