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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. capital — a city
  3. scale — in music
  4. scale — size or range
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. stock — shares
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. season — of the year
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. sharp — clever
  14. shower — rain
  15. season — in sport
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. stock — goods
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — money
  24. shower — to wash

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