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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.

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: cold · patient · pit · spring · leaves · capital · tube · face

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. spring — a coil
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. tube — the underground
  10. spring — the season
  11. face — part of the head
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. spring — of water
  14. tube — a container
  15. capital — a city
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. face — to confront
  18. cold — an illness
  19. capital — money
  20. face — to point toward
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. pit — a hole
  24. pit — in a race

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