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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. wound — an injury
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. court — of a king
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. file — a document
  9. file — a tool
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. current — of water
  12. file — a line of people
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. ball — a dance
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. court — of law
  17. wound — an injury
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. current — electric
  20. ball — a great time
  21. current — happening now
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. court — for sport

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