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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: rash · current · capital · bat · court · pop · charge · wound

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. wound — an injury
  3. charge — electricity
  4. pop — to visit
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. wound — an injury
  7. charge — a price
  8. court — of a king
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. rash — a series
  11. court — of law
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. current — happening now
  14. pop — soda
  15. court — for sport
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. charge — in control
  18. capital — a city
  19. pop — music
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. rash — hasty
  22. current — of water
  23. current — electric
  24. bat — the animal

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