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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: kid · spring · capital · wake · dip · fine · swing · fall

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. fine — all right
  3. fine — high quality
  4. swing — to play on
  5. capital — a city
  6. fall — to drop
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. spring — the season
  10. kid — to tease
  11. swing — in golf
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. kid — child
  14. dip — to sink
  15. swing — music
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. capital — money
  19. fall — to drop
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — a coil
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. fall — the season
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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