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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: current · shower · trunk · last · capital · race

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. 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. last — to go on
  2. current — electric
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. shower — rain
  5. capital — money
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — a city
  8. race — a contest
  9. current — happening now
  10. current — of water
  11. race — the arms race
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — to wash
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. race — humankind
  17. last — finally
  18. 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