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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. club — for golf
  3. charge — electricity
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. sharp — clever
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. club — a group
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. charge — in control
  14. charge — a price
  15. capital — a city
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. capital — money
  22. fork — in a road
  23. club — for dancing
  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