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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.

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: field · capital · patient · bulb · chair · file · saw · chest

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — a subject
  5. bulb — for light
  6. saw — the tool
  7. file — a tool
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. file — a line of people
  11. saw — the tool
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. chest — of your body
  17. field — for sport
  18. chair — a leader
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. file — a document
  21. chest — a box
  22. bulb — for light
  23. capital — money
  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