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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. fall — to drop
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. file — a tool
  5. capital — a city
  6. wound — an injury
  7. mate — to breed
  8. wound — an injury
  9. chip — for betting
  10. fall — to drop
  11. pound — a weight
  12. file — a line of people
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. file — a document
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. capital — money
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. mate — a friend
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. fall — the season
  22. mate — a partner
  23. chip — to eat
  24. pound — for dogs

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