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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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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: content · wake · pit · patient · march · kid · tear · capital

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. pit — in a race
  4. kid — to tease
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. kid — child
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. wake — a trail
  9. march — the month
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. content — the amount
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. tear — from crying
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. tear — from crying
  16. pit — a hole
  17. content — happy
  18. capital — a city
  19. march — music
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. capital — money
  22. march — the month
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. tear — to rip

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