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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. court — of law
  3. court — of a king
  4. band — a ring
  5. capital — a city
  6. current — electric
  7. capital — money
  8. present — there
  9. current — of water
  10. current — happening now
  11. band — a music group
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. present — the time now
  14. hand — help
  15. present — a gift
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. court — for sport
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. wake — a trail
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. hand — in cards
  23. mine — for digging
  24. wake — before a funeral

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