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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mate — to breed
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. current — of water
  6. mate — a partner
  7. cell — a phone
  8. capital — a city
  9. perch — the fish
  10. current — happening now
  11. face — to confront
  12. cell — in biology
  13. face — to point toward
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. capital — money
  16. root — of a plant
  17. root — the cause
  18. current — electric
  19. root — of a word
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. face — part of the head
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mate — a friend
  24. perch — for a bird

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