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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 · patient · cold · bay · spring · cell

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cell — a phone
  5. spring — of water
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. capital — money
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. capital — a city
  16. cold — an illness
  17. spring — a coil
  18. cell — in biology

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