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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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Word bank
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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: saw · land · swing · hand · capital · dip · degree · racket

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. saw — the tool
  3. degree — from a university
  4. saw — the tool
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. land — ground
  7. degree — an amount
  8. swing — to play on
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. degree — temperature
  14. hand — in cards
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. dip — to sink
  17. hand — help
  18. land — to come down
  19. capital — money
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. swing — music
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. land — a country
  24. capital — a city

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