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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: capital · lean · current · hand · row · craft · game · file

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. lean — thin
  3. game — wild animals
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — money
  6. file — a tool
  7. lean — to bend
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — a match
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. current — of water
  12. craft — a skill
  13. current — happening now
  14. hand — in cards
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — help
  17. craft — boats
  18. current — electric
  19. row — to paddle
  20. file — a document
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. file — a line of people
  23. row — a line
  24. craft — a handicraft

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