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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 116 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. current — electric
  3. capital — money
  4. current — happening now
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. capital — a city
  7. bank — of a river
  8. bass — the fish
  9. chip — to eat
  10. current — of water
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. bank — for money
  15. kid — to tease
  16. file — a line of people
  17. bass — low music
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. file — a document
  20. file — a tool
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. chip — for betting
  23. bank — for money
  24. kid — child

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