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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: clip · swing · shower · row · ball · capital · season · patient

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. row — a line
  4. ball — a dance
  5. season — of the year
  6. clip — a video
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. ball — a great time
  10. clip — for paper
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. season — in sport
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. capital — money
  15. swing — to play on
  16. row — to paddle
  17. swing — music
  18. shower — rain
  19. swing — in golf
  20. capital — a city
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. clip — to cut
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. season — to add flavour

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