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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. mine — for digging
  3. court — of a king
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. stand — to bear
  6. court — for sport
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. hand — in cards
  10. capital — money
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. branch — a division
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. capital — a city
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. court — of law
  24. stand — on your feet

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