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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. stem — to come from
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. squash — the sport
  5. board — a committee
  6. board — to get on
  7. capital — money
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. squash — to crush
  10. capital — a city
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. bass — the fish
  13. wake — a trail
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. current — happening now
  18. clip — for paper
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. bass — low music
  23. current — of water
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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