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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. press — a publisher
  5. snap — to click
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. capital — a city
  13. press — newspapers
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. press — to push
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. capital — money
  21. sharp — clever
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. bore — to tire
  24. bore — to drill

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