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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: season · wake · patient · rush · bowl · clip · capital · squash

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. season — of the year
  3. squash — the sport
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. season — in sport
  7. squash — to crush
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. wake — a trail
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. capital — money
  12. clip — a video
  13. rush — hurry
  14. clip — for paper
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. clip — to cut
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. bowl — a football final

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