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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: capital · patient · cold · bay · spring · cell · bass · wave

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. bass — low music
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. spring — the season
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cold — an illness
  14. capital — money
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cell — a phone
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. spring — of water
  21. capital — a city
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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