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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. ball — a great time
  3. capital — money
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. ball — a dance
  6. capital — a city
  7. chest — a box
  8. branch — a division
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. stand — to bear
  11. game — a match
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. cap — of ice
  14. chest — of your body
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. cap — a lid
  19. chest — of your body
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. cap — a hat
  22. game — wild animals
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. stand — for spectators

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