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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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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: patient · racket · rock · bat · court · file · capital · hide

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. capital — a city
  3. rock — music
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. file — a document
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. court — for sport
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. court — of law
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. court — of a king
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. rock — a stone
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. bat — the animal
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a line of people
  23. capital — money
  24. racket — a loud noise

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