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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 120 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: lie · cold · swing · capital · squash · straw · racket · tear

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. tear — from crying
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. cold — an illness
  7. capital — money
  8. swing — to play on
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. squash — to crush
  12. swing — music
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. tear — from crying
  17. lie — to recline
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. swing — in golf
  20. squash — the sport
  21. cold — not warm
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. capital — a city
  24. tear — to rip

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