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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: wind · stand · scale · capital · tear · cabinet · rush · fall

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. scale — size or range
  5. scale — in music
  6. fall — the season
  7. fall — to drop
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. rush — hurry
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. tear — from crying
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. capital — money
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. stand — to bear
  20. tear — to rip
  21. wind — moving air
  22. tear — from crying
  23. capital — a city
  24. fall — to drop

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