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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: spring · cell · sharp · ground · capital · file · nail · current

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. capital — money
  5. current — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. spring — of water
  9. spring — the season
  10. current — happening now
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. cell — a phone
  13. ground — a position
  14. current — electric
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. file — a line of people
  17. ground — crushed
  18. cell — in biology
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. file — a document
  21. ground — the earth
  22. capital — a city
  23. file — a tool
  24. sharp — clever

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