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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 120 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 blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. spring — of water
  5. present — the time now
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. wax — to grow
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. spring — the season
  11. capital — money
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. spring — a coil
  14. cell — in biology
  15. capital — a city
  16. present — there
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. pitch — completely
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. cell — a phone
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. mine — for digging
  24. present — a gift

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