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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
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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: roll · capital · patient · bat · mine · cold · object · mug

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. bat — the animal
  6. object — an aim
  7. cold — not warm
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. mug — a cup
  10. mug — to rob
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. roll — a list
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. roll — a cake
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. mine — for digging
  19. mug — a face
  20. object — to protest
  21. capital — money
  22. capital — a city
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. object — a thing

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