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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: dip · row · capital · patient · branch · degree · club · mine

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. club — for dancing
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. row — a line
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. mine — for digging
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. degree — from a university
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. branch — a division
  15. club — a group
  16. row — to paddle
  17. degree — temperature
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. capital — money
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. dip — to sink
  23. degree — an amount
  24. club — for golf

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