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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: capital · cold · wound · mug · track · chest · stand · patient

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — a box
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wound — an injury
  9. mug — a face
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mug — a cup
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. track — a song
  15. stand — to bear
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — money
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. wound — an injury
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. track — a path
  23. mug — to rob
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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