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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: lie · capital · wind · tear · sharp · cold · wax · board

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — a city
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. tear — to rip
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. lie — to recline
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. sharp — clever
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. board — to get on
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. wax — to grow
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. cold — not warm
  18. capital — money
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — from crying
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. board — a committee

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