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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: capital · mine · stem · patient · net · fork · last · vault

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. stem — to come from
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. last — to go on
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. capital — a city
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. mine — for digging
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. vault — a safe
  13. last — finally
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. last — final
  18. net — after costs
  19. fork — in a road
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. net — in sport
  22. net — for catching
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. capital — money

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