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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: patient · content · fork · capital · clip · field · bear · saw

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. clip — a video
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. saw — the tool
  6. clip — to cut
  7. capital — money
  8. field — a subject
  9. field — for sport
  10. saw — the tool
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. content — happy
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. content — the amount
  16. fork — in a road
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. capital — a city
  19. field — farmland
  20. bear — the animal
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bear — to put up with

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