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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. capital — a city
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. current — electric
  7. last — to go on
  8. last — final
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. last — finally
  11. sharp — clever
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. current — happening now
  14. pound — a weight
  15. wound — an injury
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. capital — money
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. wound — an injury
  20. squash — the sport
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. current — of water
  24. squash — to crush

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