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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 116 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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. ground — the earth
  3. capital — money
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. bat — the animal
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. ground — crushed
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. can — to be able to
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. can — a tin
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. can — a tin
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. ground — a position
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. plane — a tool

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