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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 124 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: patient · file · bat · bowl · rule · capital

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. rule — government
  3. capital — a city
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. rule — a law
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. file — a tool
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. capital — money
  14. bat — the animal
  15. file — a line of people
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. file — a document

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