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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  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. current — electric
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. present — the time now
  4. current — of water
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. present — a gift
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. capital — money
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — to tease
  12. content — the amount
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. mark — a trace
  16. cold — not warm
  17. content — happy
  18. mark — a grade
  19. present — there
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. cold — an illness
  22. capital — a city
  23. cabinet — ministers
  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