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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: fall · cap · fan · cell · rule · capital · field · march

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. march — the month
  6. fall — to drop
  7. cell — in biology
  8. field — farmland
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cap — a hat
  12. rule — a law
  13. field — a subject
  14. capital — a city
  15. fall — the season
  16. march — music
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. capital — money
  19. field — for sport
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. rule — government
  22. cap — a lid
  23. march — the month
  24. fan — a supporter

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