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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.

Make a worksheet

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: toast · patient · cold · trunk · capital · craft

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. capital — money
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. craft — a skill
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. capital — a city
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. craft — boats

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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