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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 120 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: ruler · game · capital · bat · cell · patient

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a city
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. game — a match
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. game — wild animals
  13. cell — a phone
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. cell — in biology
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. patient — calm and waiting

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