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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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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: tear · kid · foot · patient · capital · last

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. last — finally
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. last — final
  6. kid — child
  7. tear — from crying
  8. foot — a measure
  9. last — to go on
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. capital — money
  12. tear — to rip
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. tear — from crying
  16. kid — to tease
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. 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