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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. current — of water
  3. game — a match
  4. staff — a stick
  5. cold — not warm
  6. capital — a city
  7. scale — size or range
  8. ground — the earth
  9. current — electric
  10. staff — employees
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. ground — crushed
  13. staff — employees
  14. ground — a position
  15. game — wild animals
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. current — happening now
  22. cold — an illness
  23. capital — money
  24. scale — in music

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