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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 120 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. mug — a cup
  4. land — to come down
  5. last — finally
  6. last — final
  7. march — the month
  8. cue — for pool
  9. cue — a hint
  10. land — ground
  11. capital — money
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. land — a country
  14. march — the month
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. last — to go on
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. bound — tied together
  19. mug — a face
  20. march — music
  21. mug — to rob
  22. bound — certain
  23. bound — obliged
  24. cue — a signal

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