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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: mouse · patient · hand · capital · drill · hide · row · file

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. row — a line
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. file — a tool
  9. hand — help
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. drill — army training
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. drill — a practice
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. row — to paddle
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a document
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. drill — the tool
  24. capital — money

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