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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. lean — to bend
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. file — a tool
  7. land — a country
  8. land — ground
  9. land — to come down
  10. pitch — completely
  11. wound — an injury
  12. current — of water
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — the fish
  15. file — a line of people
  16. wound — an injury
  17. lean — thin
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. current — electric
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. capital — a city
  22. current — happening now
  23. file — a document
  24. capital — a big letter

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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