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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — a city
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — to wash
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. wind — moving air
  11. chair — a leader
  12. current — electric
  13. perch — the fish
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. wind — moving air
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. capital — money
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. current — happening now
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. current — of water
  24. wake — a trail

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