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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. capital — money
  3. current — electric
  4. spring — of water
  5. spring — the season
  6. land — ground
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. pound — a weight
  10. bat — the animal
  11. capital — a city
  12. spring — a coil
  13. land — to come down
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. ground — a position
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. land — a country
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. ground — crushed
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. current — of water
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. pound — to hit hard

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