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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 116 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: bat · pop · bark · row · pitcher · bowl · capital · patient

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bark — to shout
  3. capital — a city
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. pop — to visit
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. pop — soda
  11. row — to paddle
  12. pop — music
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. capital — money
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. row — a line

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