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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: wind · cell · present · swing · capital · bound · rock · fall

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. cell — a phone
  3. swing — to play on
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. swing — in golf
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. fall — the season
  8. capital — a city
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. rock — a stone
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bound — certain
  13. wind — moving air
  14. swing — music
  15. bound — tied together
  16. fall — to drop
  17. rock — music
  18. cell — in biology
  19. bound — obliged
  20. present — there
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — money
  23. present — the time now
  24. present — a gift

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