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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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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: capital · wind · object · march · patient · cell · swing · saw

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. march — music
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. swing — music
  5. object — an aim
  6. object — to protest
  7. object — a thing
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. capital — money
  11. saw — the tool
  12. capital — a city
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. swing — to play on
  15. cell — in biology
  16. march — the month
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. wind — moving air
  19. saw — the tool
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. swing — in golf
  23. march — the month
  24. wind — to turn a key

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