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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. current — happening now
  3. last — final
  4. current — of water
  5. capital — a city
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. band — a ring
  8. band — a music group
  9. spell — letters
  10. ball — a dance
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. spell — a short time
  14. capital — money
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. last — to go on
  17. ball — a great time
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. fork — in a road
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. last — finally
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. current — electric

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