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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: roll · ball · rule · current · rest · mine · nail · capital

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. roll — a cake
  4. capital — money
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. ball — a great time
  7. current — electric
  8. rule — a law
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. mine — for digging
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. ball — a dance
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. rest — what's left
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. current — of water
  17. roll — a list
  18. current — happening now
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. rule — government
  21. capital — a city
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. rest — what's left
  24. nail — for a hammer

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