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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 116 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: present · lie · file · patient · cold · capital · bay · rush

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. capital — a city
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. file — a tool
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. file — a document
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. present — there
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. cold — not warm
  14. present — the time now
  15. present — a gift
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. file — a line of people
  20. lie — to recline
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. capital — money
  23. cold — an illness
  24. rush — a thrill

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