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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  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 big letter
  2. current — happening now
  3. degree — from a university
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. bank — of a river
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bank — for money
  8. current — of water
  9. capital — a city
  10. current — electric
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bank — for money
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bound — tied together
  15. clip — a video
  16. capital — money
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. degree — temperature
  19. chip — for betting
  20. degree — an amount
  21. bound — certain
  22. chip — to eat
  23. bound — obliged
  24. wound — an injury

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