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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. current — of water
  3. game — wild animals
  4. field — farmland
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — a subject
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. stock — shares
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. file — a document
  17. current — happening now
  18. current — electric
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a tool
  21. stock — goods
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. game — a match
  24. calf — a young animal

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