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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 · march · rest · capital · degree · fork

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. capital — a city
  4. degree — from a university
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. degree — an amount
  7. current — electric
  8. capital — money
  9. march — the month
  10. rest — what's left
  11. fork — in a road
  12. march — the month
  13. current — of water
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — a break
  17. degree — temperature
  18. march — music

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