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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. current — of water
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. current — electric
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a tool
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. capital — money
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. file — a document
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. spell — a short time
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. spell — letters
  18. spell — magic
  19. capital — a city
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. current — happening now
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. pitch — completely

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