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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. perch — the fish
  3. current — electric
  4. tear — from crying
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. tear — to rip
  9. current — happening now
  10. season — in sport
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. swing — music
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. date — the fruit
  17. season — of the year
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. swing — to play on
  20. current — of water
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. swing — in golf
  23. tear — from crying
  24. nail — for a hammer

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