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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. current — electric
  3. pit — a hole
  4. capital — a city
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. foot — a measure
  8. current — of water
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. current — happening now
  12. wax — to grow
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. pit — in a race
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. kid — child
  17. wake — a trail
  18. degree — from a university
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. degree — an amount
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. kid — to tease
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. degree — temperature

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