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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 116 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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. season — in sport
  4. band — a ring
  5. band — a music group
  6. hand — help
  7. current — happening now
  8. snap — to click
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. capital — money
  12. current — of water
  13. hand — in cards
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a tool
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. season — of the year
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. file — a document

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