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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: lean · patient · capital · current · land · wave · hand · snap

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. snap — to click
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. current — electric
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. current — of water
  10. capital — money
  11. lean — to bend
  12. land — ground
  13. land — to come down
  14. lean — thin
  15. capital — a city
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — help
  18. current — happening now
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. wave — of the sea

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