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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: land · capital · ruler · bulb · chest · fork · patient · spring

  1. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. land — ground
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. chest — a box
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bulb — for light
  10. spring — the season
  11. capital — a city
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. spring — a coil
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — a country
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. capital — money
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. chest — of your body
  21. spring — of water
  22. fork — in a road
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. fork — a garden tool

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