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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. chair — a leader
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. capital — money
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. pitch — completely
  15. pit — a hole
  16. pit — in a race
  17. rush — hurry
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. cell — a phone
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. capital — a city
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bark — to shout

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