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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. capital — a city
  3. file — a tool
  4. fork — in a road
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — of water
  10. file — a document
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. stand — to bear
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. wind — moving air
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. mug — a cup
  19. mug — a face
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. file — a line of people
  22. capital — money
  23. wind — moving air
  24. spring — a coil

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