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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. current — electric
  3. current — of water
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. current — happening now
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. scale — size or range
  15. hand — in cards
  16. club — for golf
  17. club — a group
  18. wake — a trail
  19. scale — in music
  20. kid — to tease
  21. capital — a city
  22. kid — child
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. capital — money

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