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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: snap · lean · wind · face · capital · sharp · cabinet · cold

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. face — part of the head
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. snap — to click
  11. cold — not warm
  12. face — to point toward
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — money
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. sharp — clever
  21. lean — to bend
  22. face — to confront
  23. lean — thin
  24. sharp — with an edge

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