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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: current · mark · hide · patient · capital · prune · field · tube

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. capital — a city
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. mark — a trace
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tube — a container
  11. current — of water
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. current — electric
  14. current — happening now
  15. prune — to trim
  16. field — for sport
  17. mark — a grade
  18. tube — the underground
  19. capital — money
  20. field — farmland
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. prune — to trim
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. field — a subject

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