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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: march · capital · saw · spell · patient · file · fine · stock

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. 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. capital — a city
  2. spell — magic
  3. file — a document
  4. stock — shares
  5. fine — high quality
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. fine — all right
  8. spell — a short time
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. saw — the tool
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. file — a line of people
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. file — a tool
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. capital — money
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. saw — the tool
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. spell — letters
  22. stock — goods
  23. march — music
  24. 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