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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 116 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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. bore — to drill
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. land — to come down
  7. capital — a city
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. net — for catching
  10. land — a country
  11. net — in sport
  12. key — in music
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — the season
  15. key — the most important part
  16. land — ground
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. key — for a lock
  19. net — after costs
  20. bore — to tire
  21. capital — money
  22. spring — of water
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. pitcher — a jug

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