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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. branch — a division
  4. court — of law
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cell — a phone
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. staff — employees
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. court — for sport
  13. staff — employees
  14. capital — a city
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. staff — a stick
  18. cell — in biology
  19. bat — the animal
  20. chip — for betting
  21. court — of a king
  22. chip — to eat
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. capital — money

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