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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — an amount
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. capital — money
  8. kid — to tease
  9. current — of water
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. degree — temperature
  13. root — of a word
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. root — of a plant
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. root — the cause
  19. kid — child
  20. current — happening now
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. capital — a city
  24. plane — a tool

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