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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: rest · stock · swing · hand · mine · club · last · capital

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. rest — a break
  3. swing — music
  4. mine — for digging
  5. club — for dancing
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. club — a group
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. club — for golf
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. hand — help
  13. swing — to play on
  14. stock — shares
  15. last — to go on
  16. swing — in golf
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. rest — what's left
  20. stock — goods
  21. last — final
  22. last — finally
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a city

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