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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. court — for sport
  5. capital — money
  6. court — of a king
  7. pitch — completely
  8. capital — a city
  9. kick — in football
  10. land — ground
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. wound — an injury
  13. court — of law
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. land — to come down
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. fork — in a road
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. land — a country
  22. wound — an injury
  23. current — electric
  24. current — of water

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