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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. stand — to bear
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. net — after costs
  9. spring — the season
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. spring — of water
  12. cell — a phone
  13. spring — a coil
  14. net — in sport
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. capital — money
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. net — for catching
  19. mine — for digging
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. capital — a city
  22. cell — in biology
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — a sick person

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