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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — the season
  4. shower — to wash
  5. current — electric
  6. capital — a city
  7. chest — of your body
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. march — the month
  10. bore — to tire
  11. march — the month
  12. capital — money
  13. bore — to drill
  14. chest — a box
  15. fall — to drop
  16. last — finally
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. last — to go on
  20. chest — of your body
  21. current — of water
  22. march — music
  23. shower — rain
  24. last — final

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