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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 120 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. current — electric
  3. wound — an injury
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — for digging
  6. fork — in a road
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. field — a subject
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. lie — to recline
  13. field — for sport
  14. current — happening now
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. current — of water
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. field — farmland
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. bass — low music
  21. capital — money
  22. bass — the fish
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. wound — an injury

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