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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. current — electric
  3. craft — boats
  4. current — happening now
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. degree — from a university
  7. board — to get on
  8. kid — child
  9. degree — an amount
  10. board — a committee
  11. capital — a city
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. kid — to tease
  14. current — of water
  15. march — the month
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. degree — temperature
  20. capital — money
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. craft — a skill

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