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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: bank · patient · kid · nail · clip · capital · charge · shower

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. shower — rain
  4. kid — child
  5. capital — money
  6. bank — for money
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. clip — for paper
  12. charge — a price
  13. bank — for money
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. charge — electricity
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. capital — a city
  22. charge — in control
  23. bank — of a river
  24. kid — to tease

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