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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: cold · branch · lie · last · capital · fall · fine · tear

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. fine — high quality
  3. fall — to drop
  4. capital — a city
  5. branch — a division
  6. capital — money
  7. fall — the season
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. cold — not warm
  10. lie — to recline
  11. last — finally
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. last — to go on
  15. fall — to drop
  16. tear — from crying
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. tear — to rip
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. fine — all right
  22. tear — from crying
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. last — final

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