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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. capital — a city
  7. squash — the sport
  8. tube — a container
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. band — a music group
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. mine — for digging
  14. shower — rain
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. current — of water
  17. current — electric
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. squash — to crush
  22. tube — the underground
  23. current — happening now
  24. shower — to wash

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