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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: wind · perch · capital · swing · kick · degree

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. swing — in golf
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. wind — moving air
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. swing — to play on
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — money
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. degree — an amount
  12. kick — in football
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. swing — music
  15. degree — from a university
  16. capital — a city
  17. degree — temperature
  18. perch — the fish

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