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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: mine · jam · current · face · capital · field · clip · board

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — money
  3. current — happening now
  4. face — part of the head
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. current — of water
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. capital — a city
  9. current — electric
  10. field — for sport
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. field — farmland
  13. mine — for digging
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — to cut
  18. face — to point toward
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. clip — a video
  21. board — a committee
  22. face — to confront
  23. board — to get on
  24. field — a subject

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