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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. capital — a city
  3. current — of water
  4. rash — a series
  5. rash — hasty
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. file — a line of people
  9. current — happening now
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. capital — money
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. pitch — completely
  14. rule — government
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. fork — in a road
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. file — a tool
  22. current — electric
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. file — a document

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