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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: shower · mine · bank · cap · patient · capital · bulb · rash

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. bulb — for light
  3. cap — of ice
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. capital — a city
  7. cap — a lid
  8. rash — hasty
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. shower — to wash
  12. bank — for money
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. shower — rain
  17. bulb — for light
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. bank — of a river
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. cap — a hat
  22. capital — money
  23. rash — a series
  24. mine — for digging

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