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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: fall · capital · lean · march · ruler · cold

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. fall — to drop
  3. cold — an illness
  4. lean — to bend
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. cold — not warm
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. lean — thin
  14. capital — a city
  15. march — music
  16. fall — to drop
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — money

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