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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 116 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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. last — finally
  3. season — in sport
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. staff — employees
  6. hand — help
  7. last — to go on
  8. current — happening now
  9. spell — magic
  10. spell — a short time
  11. season — of the year
  12. hand — in cards
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. staff — employees
  15. capital — a city
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. spell — letters
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. capital — money
  21. chair — a leader
  22. staff — a stick
  23. current — of water
  24. last — final

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