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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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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: tear · patient · capital · current · pass · cap · trunk · cold

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. current — of water
  5. cap — of ice
  6. capital — money
  7. cap — a lid
  8. pass — a permit
  9. current — electric
  10. cap — a hat
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. tear — to rip
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. tear — from crying
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. capital — a city
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. cold — not warm
  19. current — happening now
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. cold — an illness
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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