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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. current — of water
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. prune — to trim
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. prune — to trim
  10. capital — money
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. squash — to crush
  14. current — happening now
  15. wax — to grow
  16. pound — a weight
  17. kid — to tease
  18. capital — a city
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. sharp — clever
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. squash — the sport
  23. kid — child
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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