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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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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  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. capital — money
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. spell — letters
  4. row — to paddle
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. pit — in a race
  7. saw — the tool
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. spell — a short time
  12. cap — of ice
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. cap — a hat
  15. pit — a hole
  16. cap — a lid
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. saw — the tool
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. row — a line
  22. spell — magic
  23. capital — a city
  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