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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: patient · spell · deal · bark · current · kid · fork · capital

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. capital — a city
  3. spell — letters
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. spell — a short time
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. spell — magic
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. current — electric
  16. capital — money
  17. kid — to tease
  18. current — of water
  19. current — happening now
  20. bark — to shout
  21. deal — to handle
  22. kid — child
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fork — a garden tool

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