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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. rush — hurry
  3. land — a country
  4. cap — a hat
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. capital — a city
  7. cap — a lid
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. land — ground
  11. current — electric
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. capital — money
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. pass — a permit
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. current — happening now
  19. land — to come down
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. sharp — clever
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. bat — the animal
  24. current — of water

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