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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 120 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: patient · rush · hand · object · spring · game · capital · fork

  1. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. spring — the season
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. game — a match
  7. object — to protest
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. object — a thing
  12. spring — a coil
  13. capital — a city
  14. hand — help
  15. object — an aim
  16. capital — money
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. spring — of water
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. hand — in cards
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. game — wild animals
  24. rush — hurry

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