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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bulb — for light
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. current — electric
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. cap — of ice
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. ground — the earth
  9. bulb — for light
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — a position
  12. capital — money
  13. stock — goods
  14. cap — a hat
  15. current — happening now
  16. cap — a lid
  17. current — of water
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. capital — a city
  23. stock — shares
  24. mine — for digging

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