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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: board · patient · branch · craft · capital · file · last · wound

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. branch — a division
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. craft — boats
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. file — a document
  10. last — final
  11. file — a line of people
  12. craft — a skill
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. capital — money
  16. wound — an injury
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. last — to go on
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. board — to get on
  22. file — a tool
  23. last — finally
  24. craft — a handicraft

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