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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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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: tube · fall · swing · capital · stick · wind · perch · wound

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. capital — a city
  3. swing — in golf
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. swing — music
  6. wound — an injury
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. perch — the fish
  9. tube — a container
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — to drop
  14. wound — an injury
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. tube — the underground
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — money
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. fall — the season
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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