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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: trunk · march · court · file · pass · capital · spring · current

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. current — of water
  3. court — of law
  4. file — a line of people
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — the season
  7. current — electric
  8. file — a tool
  9. march — music
  10. march — the month
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a city
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. court — for sport
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. march — the month
  19. spring — of water
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. file — a document
  22. court — of a king
  23. pass — a permit
  24. pass — to spend time

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