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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. current — of water
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. file — a document
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. land — to come down
  8. spell — letters
  9. current — happening now
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. cell — a phone
  12. spell — magic
  13. spell — a short time
  14. land — ground
  15. file — a line of people
  16. firm — steady
  17. current — electric
  18. capital — money
  19. file — a tool
  20. land — a country
  21. firm — decided
  22. cell — in biology
  23. capital — a city
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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