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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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468
Word bank
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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. kick — in football
  7. capital — money
  8. fall — to drop
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. scale — in music
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. fall — to drop
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. fork — in a road
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. cold — not warm
  21. scale — size or range
  22. cold — an illness
  23. capital — a city
  24. fall — the season

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