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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: present · swing · cold · straw · fork · ruler · mark · capital

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. present — a gift
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. swing — in golf
  6. capital — money
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. capital — a city
  11. swing — to play on
  12. present — the time now
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. swing — music
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. cold — an illness
  18. mark — a trace
  19. fork — in a road
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. present — there
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  24. mark — a grade

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