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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. shower — rain
  3. kid — to tease
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. rash — hasty
  7. game — wild animals
  8. bound — tied together
  9. shower — to wash
  10. object — to protest
  11. object — an aim
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. current — happening now
  14. kid — child
  15. capital — money
  16. current — of water
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. current — electric
  19. rash — a series
  20. bound — obliged
  21. bound — certain
  22. object — a thing
  23. capital — a city
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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