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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: mouse · straw · bat · pitcher · wind · swing · fine · capital

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. capital — a city
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. swing — to play on
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. fine — all right
  11. capital — money
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — the animal
  16. swing — music
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. swing — in golf
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. fine — high quality
  24. pitcher — a jug

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