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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. row — a line
  3. capital — a city
  4. field — a subject
  5. bank — for money
  6. bank — of a river
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — farmland
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. fall — to drop
  12. file — a tool
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cell — a phone
  15. file — a document
  16. bank — for money
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. fall — to drop
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. lie — to recline
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. row — to paddle
  23. file — a line of people
  24. fall — the season

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