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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 · rest · capital · file · fan · stock · branch · straw

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. stock — goods
  3. rest — a break
  4. file — a line of people
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — money
  10. file — a document
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. branch — a division
  13. stock — shares
  14. rest — what's left
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — to drop
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. capital — a city
  19. rest — what's left
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. file — a tool

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