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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: pitcher · capital · current · row · root · wound · mark · last

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. last — finally
  3. root — the cause
  4. current — electric
  5. capital — a city
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. capital — money
  8. row — a line
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. row — to paddle
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. current — happening now
  13. mark — a grade
  14. current — of water
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. last — to go on
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. wound — an injury
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. wound — an injury
  21. last — final
  22. root — of a word
  23. root — of a plant
  24. mark — a trace

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