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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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468
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: ground · branch · rock · stand · fall · capital · wave · face

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. rock — a stone
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. ground — crushed
  7. fall — to drop
  8. stand — to bear
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. ground — a position
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. branch — a division
  15. face — to confront
  16. face — part of the head
  17. capital — a city
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. face — to point toward
  20. fall — to drop
  21. capital — money
  22. fall — the season
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. ground — the earth

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