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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: field · patient · file · current · court · capital · foot · mine

  1. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. field — a subject
  3. court — of a king
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. capital — money
  7. file — a line of people
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. current — happening now
  10. court — for sport
  11. foot — a measure
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. court — of law
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. mine — for digging
  16. file — a tool
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. current — electric
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. field — for sport
  21. current — of water
  22. file — a document
  23. capital — a city
  24. field — farmland

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