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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. lean — to bend
  5. last — to go on
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. last — final
  12. wound — an injury
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. last — finally
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. lean — thin
  17. wound — an injury
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. capital — money

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