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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 · capital · bound · file · degree · mate · object · trunk

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — money
  4. degree — temperature
  5. file — a tool
  6. object — an aim
  7. mate — a friend
  8. degree — an amount
  9. object — a thing
  10. bound — tied together
  11. capital — a city
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. mate — to breed
  14. object — to protest
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. file — a document
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. bound — obliged
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. file — a line of people
  23. bound — certain
  24. mate — a partner

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