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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: roll · capital · patient · tube · safe · content · pitcher · game

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. roll — a list
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. game — wild animals
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. tube — the underground
  11. content — happy
  12. content — the amount
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. capital — money
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. capital — a city
  19. game — a match
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. tube — a container
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. roll — a cake

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