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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 116 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 · capital · ground · swing · tear · stick

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. capital — money
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. ground — the earth
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. swing — music
  8. tear — from crying
  9. ground — crushed
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. swing — to play on
  13. wind — moving air
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. ground — a position
  16. capital — a city
  17. swing — in golf
  18. wind — to turn a key

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