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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. rock — music
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. spring — the season
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — a coil
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. rock — a stone
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. wound — an injury
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — size or range
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. sharp — clever
  21. wound — an injury
  22. capital — a city
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  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