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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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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 · land · saw · track · bat · ball · patient · stand

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. saw — the tool
  4. track — a song
  5. land — ground
  6. track — to keep track
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. land — to come down
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. capital — a city
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. ball — a dance
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bat — the animal
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. stand — to bear
  21. capital — money
  22. land — a country
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. ball — a great time

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