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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 120 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · fall · pitcher · foot · capital · bank · ruler · cold

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. capital — money
  5. fall — to drop
  6. tear — to rip
  7. foot — a measure
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. fall — the season
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. bank — for money
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bank — of a river
  15. tear — from crying
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. tear — from crying
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — a city
  23. bank — for money
  24. cold — an illness

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