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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. mate — to breed
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. saw — the tool
  6. race — humankind
  7. saw — the tool
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. mate — a friend
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. stand — to bear
  13. capital — money
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. mate — a partner
  16. race — a contest
  17. pound — a weight
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. race — the arms race
  20. capital — a city
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. snap — to click
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. pound — to hit hard

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