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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: mine · cold · nail · rush · swing · board · capital · branch

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. rush — hurry
  3. swing — in golf
  4. branch — a division
  5. swing — music
  6. board — a committee
  7. swing — to play on
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. capital — money
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. board — to get on
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. mine — for digging
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. cold — an illness
  20. capital — a city
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. cold — not warm
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. rush — to hurry

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