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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: swing · mine · fork · current · capital · rule

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. capital — money
  7. current — happening now
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. capital — a city
  10. swing — music
  11. fork — in a road
  12. rule — a law
  13. current — electric
  14. swing — to play on
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. current — of water
  17. mine — for digging
  18. swing — in golf

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