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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 120 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 · capital · mine · scale · perch · pitch · fork · arm

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. mine — for digging
  5. perch — the fish
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. fork — in a road
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. scale — in music
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. pitch — completely
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a city
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. scale — size or range
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. mine — belonging to me

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