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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. degree — an amount
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. chair — a leader
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. degree — from a university
  10. stock — goods
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. capital — money
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. stock — shares
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. fork — in a road
  22. mine — for digging
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. degree — temperature

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