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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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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 · pound · rule · capital · season · bat · swing · chip

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. chip — to eat
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. pound — a weight
  6. season — of the year
  7. rule — a law
  8. season — in sport
  9. swing — music
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. capital — money
  13. chip — for betting
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. capital — a city
  17. swing — to play on
  18. bat — the animal
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. swing — in golf
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. rule — government

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