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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. march — the month
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. capital — a city
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. current — happening now
  10. mine — for digging
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. kid — to tease
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. current — electric
  18. march — music
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. capital — money
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. march — the month
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. wake — a trail

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