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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: face · dip · patient · game · rule · band · capital · kid

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. kid — to tease
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. game — a match
  5. face — to point toward
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. band — a music group
  9. rule — a law
  10. dip — to sink
  11. game — wild animals
  12. kid — child
  13. rule — government
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. capital — money
  16. band — a ring
  17. capital — a city
  18. face — to confront
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. face — part of the head
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. patient — a sick person

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