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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: mine · tear · mouse · pass · kid · capital · swing · dip

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. swing — to play on
  4. kid — child
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. capital — money
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — a city
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — to tease
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. swing — in golf
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. tear — from crying
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. swing — music
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. dip — to sink
  22. pass — a permit
  23. tear — to rip
  24. tear — from crying

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