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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 116 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: game · capital · snap · tear · pitcher · mug · current · land

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. mug — to rob
  3. current — electric
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. tear — from crying
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. game — wild animals
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. game — a match
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. capital — a city
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. mug — a face
  15. tear — to rip
  16. mug — a cup
  17. tear — from crying
  18. current — of water
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. snap — to click
  21. land — ground
  22. land — to come down
  23. current — happening now
  24. capital — money

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