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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 116 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: field · fall · lean · cold · key · capital · wave · leaves

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — a subject
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. lean — thin
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — to drop
  7. cold — not warm
  8. fall — the season
  9. lean — to bend
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. capital — a city
  13. key — for a lock
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. key — in music
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. capital — money
  18. field — for sport
  19. key — the most important part
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. cold — the Cold War

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