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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: fan · capital · game · mate · date · chest · current · roll

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. current — electric
  4. roll — a list
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. chest — a box
  7. current — happening now
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. game — wild animals
  10. mate — a partner
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — a match
  13. roll — a cake
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. capital — a city
  17. mate — to breed
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. current — of water
  22. capital — money
  23. mate — a friend
  24. date — the fruit

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