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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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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 · land · ruler · file · bear · capital · rule · branch

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. rule — a law
  3. fall — the season
  4. capital — a city
  5. bear — the animal
  6. rule — government
  7. fall — to drop
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. file — a tool
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. file — a document
  13. land — a country
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. land — ground
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. bear — the animal
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. fall — to drop
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. file — a line of people
  23. capital — money
  24. branch — a division

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