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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 · cue · capital · clip · staff · kid · date · fork

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. staff — employees
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. fork — in a road
  5. clip — a video
  6. cue — for pool
  7. cue — a signal
  8. kid — child
  9. capital — money
  10. date — the fruit
  11. staff — a stick
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. kid — to tease
  15. clip — to cut
  16. cue — a hint
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. capital — a city
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. staff — employees
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. clip — for paper
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. capital — a big letter

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