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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. rule — a law
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. capital — money
  9. hand — help
  10. rule — government
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. chest — a box
  17. mine — for digging
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. hand — in cards
  23. chest — of your body
  24. capital — a city

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