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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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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: chest · current · game · capital · scale · ruler · shower · patient

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. current — happening now
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. current — electric
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — size or range
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. capital — money
  10. chest — of your body
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. chest — of your body
  14. game — wild animals
  15. shower — rain
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. game — a match
  18. shower — to wash
  19. scale — in music
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. chest — a box
  24. current — of water

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