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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 · fork · cold · straw · kick · branch · capital · mouse

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. kick — in football
  3. capital — a city
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. capital — money
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. fork — in a road
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. cold — an illness
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. branch — a division
  24. cold — not warm

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