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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. current — happening now
  3. capital — a city
  4. current — electric
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. capital — money
  8. pop — music
  9. pop — soda
  10. land — a country
  11. mine — for digging
  12. land — ground
  13. land — to come down
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. current — of water
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. fork — in a road
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. bat — the animal

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