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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: dip · ground · staff · roll · row · current · band · capital

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. ground — crushed
  3. current — electric
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. capital — money
  6. staff — a stick
  7. roll — a list
  8. band — a music group
  9. capital — a city
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. ground — a position
  14. staff — employees
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. staff — employees
  17. row — to paddle
  18. current — happening now
  19. band — a ring
  20. ground — the earth
  21. current — of water
  22. dip — to sink
  23. row — a line
  24. dip — a sauce

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