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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: nail · straw · game · land · pitcher · cell · current · capital

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. cell — a phone
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. capital — money
  6. game — a match
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. land — ground
  10. capital — a city
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. land — to come down
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. game — wild animals
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. current — of water
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. current — electric
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. current — happening now
  22. cell — in biology
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. land — a country

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