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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 · bat · capital · present · file · kick

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. present — the time now
  3. present — there
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. file — a document
  7. kick — in football
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. file — a line of people
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — a city
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. file — a tool
  15. capital — money
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — the animal
  18. present — a gift

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