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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · spell · cold · patient · current · root · object · date

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. capital — a city
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. date — the fruit
  8. cold — an illness
  9. spell — magic
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. object — to protest
  12. spell — letters
  13. root — of a plant
  14. root — of a word
  15. object — a thing
  16. current — of water
  17. root — the cause
  18. capital — money
  19. spell — a short time
  20. current — electric
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. current — happening now
  24. capital — a big letter

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