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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  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 — a sick person
  2. capital — a city
  3. land — ground
  4. land — a country
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. capital — money
  7. ground — a position
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. land — to come down
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. row — to paddle
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. bulb — for light
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. bulb — for light
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. row — a line
  19. shower — rain
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. ground — crushed
  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