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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. wind — moving air
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. bat — the animal
  5. capital — a city
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. capital — money
  10. pitch — completely
  11. current — happening now
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. saw — the tool
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. wind — moving air
  18. current — of water
  19. saw — the tool
  20. current — electric
  21. staff — a stick
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. staff — employees
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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