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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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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: ball · capital · lie · deal · spring · tube · patient · bark

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. tube — the underground
  3. spring — a coil
  4. bark — to shout
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. tube — a container
  7. ball — a dance
  8. ball — a great time
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. spring — of water
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. deal — to handle
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. spring — the season
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a city
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. ball — a round shape

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