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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. tube — the underground
  4. ball — a great time
  5. wound — an injury
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cap — a hat
  9. fork — in a road
  10. capital — money
  11. shower — rain
  12. current — of water
  13. tube — a container
  14. cap — of ice
  15. current — happening now
  16. capital — a city
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. ball — a dance
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. cap — a lid
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. current — electric

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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