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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: field · jam · bowl · hand · clip · capital · current · wake

  1. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. field — for sport
  3. current — happening now
  4. current — electric
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. field — a subject
  7. clip — a video
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. clip — for paper
  12. capital — money
  13. wake — a trail
  14. field — farmland
  15. hand — help
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. clip — to cut
  19. current — of water
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. hand — in cards
  24. capital — a city

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