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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: straw · saw · capital · field · pit · wake · current · last

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. pit — in a race
  3. saw — the tool
  4. last — to go on
  5. field — a subject
  6. capital — a city
  7. current — of water
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. current — electric
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. saw — the tool
  12. current — happening now
  13. last — final
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. field — farmland
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. pit — a hole
  20. capital — money
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. last — finally
  23. field — for sport
  24. wake — a trail

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