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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. capital — money
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. spring — the season
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. spring — a coil
  8. court — of a king
  9. scale — in music
  10. capital — a city
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. swing — to play on
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. swing — music
  15. net — after costs
  16. swing — in golf
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. net — for catching
  21. spring — of water
  22. court — of law
  23. court — for sport
  24. scale — size or range

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