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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 · capital · fork · cap · rule · board · perch · swing

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — money
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cap — of ice
  6. perch — the fish
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. board — to get on
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. swing — in golf
  12. fork — in a road
  13. board — a committee
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. cap — a lid
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. swing — to play on
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. rule — government
  23. rule — a law
  24. swing — music

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