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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  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. capital — a city
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. current — happening now
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. cold — an illness
  8. root — of a word
  9. wound — an injury
  10. deal — to handle
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. root — the cause
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. cold — not warm
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. current — of water
  19. wound — an injury
  20. current — electric
  21. root — of a plant
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  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