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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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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: net · capital · pitcher · degree · patient · last · bank · rash

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. bank — for money
  3. degree — from a university
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. net — for catching
  6. rash — hasty
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. capital — a city
  9. degree — an amount
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. rash — a series
  12. capital — money
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. last — finally
  19. bank — of a river
  20. net — after costs
  21. bank — for money
  22. last — final
  23. last — to go on
  24. degree — temperature

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