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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. march — the month
  3. degree — temperature
  4. cold — an illness
  5. march — the month
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. current — of water
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. rock — music
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. march — music
  13. capital — a city
  14. rock — a stone
  15. scale — in music
  16. deal — to handle
  17. scale — size or range
  18. degree — from a university
  19. cold — not warm
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. degree — an amount
  22. current — happening now
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. capital — money

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