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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
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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: kid · date · bat · mark · patient · pop · capital · march

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. mark — a grade
  3. pop — soda
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. mark — a trace
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. march — the month
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. capital — a city
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. march — music
  14. pop — to visit
  15. march — the month
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. kid — child
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. date — the fruit
  22. kid — to tease
  23. pop — music
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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