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

Word bank: capital · mate · swing · file · lie · chair

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. swing — to play on
  3. swing — in golf
  4. lie — to recline
  5. file — a tool
  6. mate — a partner
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. swing — music
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. capital — a city
  13. mate — a friend
  14. chair — a leader
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. file — a line of people
  17. capital — money
  18. file — a document

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