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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  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. mine — belonging to me
  2. fall — the season
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. fork — in a road
  6. capital — a city
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. fall — to drop
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. fall — to drop
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. capital — money
  14. race — a contest
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. race — humankind
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. race — the arms race
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. capital — a big letter
  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