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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · current · net · cold · rock · date · chest · squash

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. rock — a stone
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — for catching
  5. cold — an illness
  6. date — the fruit
  7. current — happening now
  8. capital — money
  9. current — electric
  10. net — after costs
  11. chest — of your body
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cold — not warm
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. current — of water
  19. chest — a box
  20. squash — the sport
  21. rock — music
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. capital — a city
  24. squash — the vegetable

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