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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: land · capital · bore · row · bear · patient · rush · ball

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. land — a country
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. capital — a city
  6. ball — a great time
  7. bear — the animal
  8. row — a line
  9. capital — money
  10. land — ground
  11. ball — a dance
  12. rush — hurry
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. bear — the animal
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. land — to come down
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. bore — to tire
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. row — to paddle
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. bore — to drill

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