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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: capital · wind · march · patient · stick · mine

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. wind — moving air
  8. mine — for digging
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. march — the month
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. march — music
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. march — the month
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. capital — a city

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