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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: rush · rest · scale · fall · fan · last · branch · capital

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. rush — hurry
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. fall — to drop
  8. capital — a city
  9. scale — in music
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. last — finally
  12. fall — to drop
  13. last — final
  14. rest — what's left
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. fall — the season
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rest — a break
  19. branch — a division
  20. scale — size or range
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. capital — money
  24. scale — for weighing

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