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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: cell · clip · current · capital · date · wind

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — in biology
  3. capital — money
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. clip — a video
  6. current — electric
  7. cell — a phone
  8. clip — for paper
  9. date — the fruit
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. clip — to cut
  13. current — happening now
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. current — of water

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