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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: swing · land · craft · fork · race · wax · chest · capital

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. land — to come down
  3. swing — music
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. swing — in golf
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. fork — in a road
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. swing — to play on
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. wax — to grow
  12. capital — money
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — the arms race
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. chest — of your body
  17. land — a country
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — a box
  20. land — ground
  21. race — a contest
  22. craft — boats
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. craft — a skill

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