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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  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. stem — of a plant
  2. drill — a practice
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. current — happening now
  5. capital — money
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. court — of law
  9. shower — rain
  10. current — electric
  11. season — in sport
  12. season — of the year
  13. court — for sport
  14. court — of a king
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. drill — army training
  17. drill — the tool
  18. current — of water
  19. stem — to come from
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. shower — to wash
  22. capital — a city
  23. fork — in a road
  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