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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  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 city
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. race — humankind
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. shower — to wash
  6. race — the arms race
  7. race — a contest
  8. current — of water
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. court — of law
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. court — of a king
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. current — electric
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. capital — money
  19. court — for sport
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. current — happening now
  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