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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: fall · capital · pop · bark · patient · mug · degree · nail

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. degree — an amount
  3. capital — a city
  4. mug — a cup
  5. bark — to shout
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. mug — to rob
  9. pop — to visit
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. degree — from a university
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. pop — soda
  16. mug — a face
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. fall — to drop
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. degree — temperature
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. fall — to drop
  23. capital — money
  24. fall — the season

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