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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's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. current — happening now
  4. file — a document
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. capital — a city
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. spring — the season
  9. file — a tool
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. pound — a weight
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. ball — a great time
  15. spring — a coil
  16. current — electric
  17. current — of water
  18. spring — of water
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. capital — money
  22. ball — a dance
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. file — a line of people

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