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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: capital · patient · mate · mark · current · branch · pitch · hand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. mate — a partner
  3. hand — in cards
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. mate — a friend
  6. capital — money
  7. current — of water
  8. mark — a trace
  9. current — electric
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. capital — a city
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. branch — a division
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. mark — a grade
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. pitch — completely
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. current — happening now
  24. mate — to breed

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