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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: cabinet · capital · bat · swing · club · file

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. capital — money
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. club — for golf
  5. swing — music
  6. file — a tool
  7. capital — a city
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. club — a group
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a line of people
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — in golf
  15. bat — the animal
  16. club — for dancing
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — in an idiom

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