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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. current — electric
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. cold — not warm
  7. stem — to come from
  8. press — to push
  9. press — a publisher
  10. capital — a city
  11. file — a tool
  12. capital — money
  13. cold — an illness
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. current — of water
  16. press — newspapers
  17. file — a line of people
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. perch — the fish
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. plane — a tool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. current — happening now

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