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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. present — the time now
  3. cap — of ice
  4. capital — money
  5. present — there
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. present — a gift
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. clip — for paper
  10. cap — a lid
  11. clip — to cut
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. face — to confront
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. spell — magic
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. clip — a video
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. face — part of the head
  20. capital — a city
  21. face — to point toward
  22. spell — a short time
  23. cap — a hat
  24. spell — letters

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