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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 · branch · date · band · field · deal · game

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. band — a music group
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. capital — money
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. band — a ring
  10. deal — to handle
  11. field — farmland
  12. capital — a city
  13. game — wild animals
  14. game — a match
  15. branch — a division
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — for sport
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. date — the fruit
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. patient — a sick person

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