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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. spell — letters
  3. capital — money
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. plane — a tool
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. cold — not warm
  11. spell — a short time
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. capital — a city
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. cold — an illness
  21. rush — hurry
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. spell — magic
  24. patient — a sick person

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