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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. wound — an injury
  4. current — of water
  5. cap — a hat
  6. club — for golf
  7. cap — a lid
  8. rash — hasty
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. swing — in golf
  11. capital — money
  12. current — happening now
  13. cap — of ice
  14. club — for dancing
  15. capital — a city
  16. current — electric
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. club — a group
  20. swing — to play on
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. rash — a series
  23. swing — music
  24. wound — an injury

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