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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: object · capital · stock · row · patient · chest · tear · rash

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. capital — a city
  3. object — to protest
  4. chest — a box
  5. object — an aim
  6. tear — from crying
  7. rash — a series
  8. object — a thing
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. chest — of your body
  11. row — a line
  12. capital — money
  13. stock — shares
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. tear — from crying
  16. chest — of your body
  17. stock — goods
  18. tear — to rip
  19. row — to paddle
  20. rash — hasty
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. stock — a soup base

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