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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: perch · coach · face · capital · spring · cold · patient · nail

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. face — part of the head
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. face — to point toward
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. face — to confront
  13. perch — the fish
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. cold — an illness
  16. spring — of water
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. cold — not warm
  20. spring — the season
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. spring — a coil
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. capital — a city

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