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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: fan · net · last · sharp · patient · capital · court · bat

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. sharp — clever
  3. net — after costs
  4. capital — a city
  5. court — for sport
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. last — to go on
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. net — for catching
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. court — of a king
  16. last — final
  17. court — of law
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. capital — money
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. net — in sport
  22. bat — the animal
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. bat — for baseball

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