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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. capital — a city
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. chip — to eat
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. drill — a practice
  7. chip — for betting
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. mine — for digging
  13. capital — money
  14. current — happening now
  15. current — of water
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. prune — to trim
  19. drill — the tool
  20. current — electric
  21. prune — to trim
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. drill — army training
  24. mine — belonging to me

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