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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 · patient · chest · key · mine · spring · wound · dip

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. spring — the season
  3. capital — a city
  4. key — for a lock
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. key — the most important part
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. wound — an injury
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. dip — to sink
  12. chest — of your body
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. wound — an injury
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spring — a coil
  21. capital — money
  22. spring — of water
  23. key — in music
  24. mine — for digging

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