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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
468
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 · shower · club · roll · land · capital · wound · cap

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  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. wound — an injury
  2. club — a group
  3. club — for dancing
  4. land — a country
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. cap — a lid
  7. cap — a hat
  8. wound — an injury
  9. roll — a list
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. land — ground
  12. shower — rain
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. roll — a cake
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. cap — of ice
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. land — to come down
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — money
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — to wash
  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