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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: patient · game · bound · last · capital · rule · cap · fork

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. game — wild animals
  3. bound — obliged
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. fork — in a road
  6. cap — a hat
  7. bound — tied together
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. game — a match
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. capital — money
  15. cap — a lid
  16. rule — a law
  17. last — finally
  18. rule — government
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. last — to go on
  21. cap — of ice
  22. capital — a city
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bound — certain

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