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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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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: arm · row · season · patient · cabinet · capital · chest · shower

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. capital — a city
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. capital — money
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. shower — to wash
  14. chest — a box
  15. season — in sport
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. shower — rain
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. row — to paddle
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. row — a line
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. season — of the year
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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