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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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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: bulb · capital · cold · wave · patient · kid · field · kick

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. capital — money
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. capital — a city
  8. bulb — for light
  9. field — farmland
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. field — for sport
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. bulb — for light
  15. kid — child
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. kick — in football
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. cold — an illness
  20. field — a subject
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. cold — not warm
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — to tease

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