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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. drill — army training
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. current — electric
  7. current — happening now
  8. game — a match
  9. charge — in control
  10. drill — a practice
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. game — wild animals
  14. charge — electricity
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. branch — a division
  17. charge — a price
  18. capital — a city
  19. current — of water
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. drill — the tool
  23. clip — for paper
  24. capital — money

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