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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. ground — a position
  3. current — of water
  4. capital — money
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. lean — thin
  7. ground — the earth
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. current — happening now
  11. shower — to wash
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. ground — crushed
  14. rock — a stone
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. rock — music
  17. lean — to bend
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. row — to paddle
  20. capital — a city
  21. shower — rain
  22. current — electric
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — the animal

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