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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 124 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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. pop — to visit
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. ground — the earth
  7. land — a country
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. pop — soda
  10. pop — music
  11. land — to come down
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. saw — the tool
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. snap — to click
  16. ground — a position
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — money
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. land — ground
  22. saw — the tool
  23. ground — crushed
  24. arm — part of the body

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