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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 116 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: ruler · wind · kick · mark · spring · patient · capital · cap

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. spring — of water
  3. mark — a trace
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. mark — a grade
  10. cap — of ice
  11. wind — moving air
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. spring — a coil
  20. capital — a city
  21. spring — the season
  22. kick — in football
  23. capital — money
  24. cap — a lid

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