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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: tube · press · current · clip · capital · scale · wound · wake

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. press — newspapers
  5. current — happening now
  6. press — a publisher
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. capital — a city
  9. clip — for paper
  10. press — to push
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. current — electric
  13. scale — size or range
  14. capital — money
  15. clip — to cut
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. current — of water
  20. wake — a trail
  21. tube — the underground
  22. clip — a video
  23. scale — in music
  24. tube — a container

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