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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 120 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 · land · swing · capital · wake · content · arm · ground

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. capital — money
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. wake — a trail
  7. current — of water
  8. capital — a city
  9. current — electric
  10. ground — crushed
  11. land — to come down
  12. land — a country
  13. ground — a position
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. content — happy
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — to play on
  18. current — happening now
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. swing — music
  22. land — ground
  23. ground — the earth
  24. content — the amount

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