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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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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: press · hand · patient · trunk · capital · cell · arm · firm

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. hand — in cards
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. press — to push
  8. firm — steady
  9. hand — help
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. capital — money
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. cell — in biology
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. press — a publisher
  18. firm — a company
  19. firm — decided
  20. press — newspapers
  21. cell — a phone
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. capital — a city

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