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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. rock — music
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. kid — child
  9. fork — in a road
  10. current — of water
  11. face — to confront
  12. current — happening now
  13. face — to point toward
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. capital — money
  19. pound — a weight
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. current — electric
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. face — part of the head
  24. rock — a stone

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