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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: staff · ground · patient · coach · bulb · capital · march · object

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. capital — money
  5. object — to protest
  6. march — the month
  7. staff — employees
  8. object — an aim
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. march — the month
  11. bulb — for light
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. object — a thing
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. march — music
  17. staff — a stick
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. staff — employees
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. ground — a position
  23. ground — the earth
  24. ground — crushed

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