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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: patient · tear · wave · cold · drill · capital

  1. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. tear — from crying
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. cold — not warm
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. cold — an illness
  11. capital — a city
  12. tear — to rip
  13. drill — army training
  14. drill — a practice
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. drill — the tool
  17. capital — money
  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