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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. saw — the tool
  3. current — happening now
  4. key — in music
  5. key — the most important part
  6. key — for a lock
  7. court — of a king
  8. capital — money
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. stock — goods
  11. cold — an illness
  12. court — of law
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. current — of water
  15. cold — not warm
  16. court — for sport
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. saw — the tool
  19. stock — shares
  20. current — electric
  21. plane — a tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. capital — a city

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