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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.

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: perch · patient · land · mate · squash · scale · capital · tear

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. capital — money
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. mate — a friend
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — the fish
  9. land — ground
  10. tear — from crying
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. scale — size or range
  13. land — a country
  14. capital — a city
  15. tear — from crying
  16. mate — to breed
  17. squash — to crush
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. tear — to rip
  21. mate — a partner
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. land — to come down
  24. scale — in music

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