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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. capital — money
  4. track — to keep track
  5. kid — to tease
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. net — after costs
  8. net — in sport
  9. track — a path
  10. spell — letters
  11. net — for catching
  12. spell — magic
  13. spell — a short time
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. track — a song
  16. kid — child
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — a big letter

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