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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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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: patient · bulb · bay · cell · drill · capital · cold · snap

  1. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. bulb — for light
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. drill — army training
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. cold — not warm
  8. snap — to click
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. capital — money
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. cell — in biology
  18. capital — a city
  19. drill — a practice
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. drill — the tool
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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