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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. capital — money
  3. land — a country
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rash — hasty
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. drill — the tool
  8. net — after costs
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. capital — a city
  13. saw — the tool
  14. land — ground
  15. drill — a practice
  16. net — for catching
  17. land — to come down
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. drill — army training
  20. saw — the tool
  21. rash — a series
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a tool
  24. net — in sport

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