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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 120 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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. rule — government
  3. current — electric
  4. capital — a city
  5. present — there
  6. current — of water
  7. present — the time now
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. current — happening now
  11. rule — a law
  12. capital — money
  13. game — a match
  14. fall — the season
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. spring — of water
  17. fall — to drop
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. fall — to drop
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a kind of play

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