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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: spring · capital · rock · wake · wind · lean · face · vault

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. spring — a coil
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. lean — thin
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. face — to confront
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. lean — to bend
  13. rock — music
  14. spring — the season
  15. spring — of water
  16. rock — a stone
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. face — part of the head
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. vault — a safe
  22. wake — a trail
  23. capital — money
  24. wind — moving air

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