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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. squash — to crush
  4. file — a tool
  5. current — electric
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. sharp — clever
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. current — happening now
  10. wound — an injury
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. squash — the sport
  13. capital — money
  14. wound — an injury
  15. file — a document
  16. current — of water
  17. pass — a permit
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. bat — the animal
  20. capital — a city
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. pass — to spend time

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