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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 116 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: stem · bay · present · capital · swing · cold · drill · mouse

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cold — not warm
  3. present — a gift
  4. drill — a practice
  5. swing — music
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. capital — a city
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. drill — army training
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. drill — the tool
  12. swing — in golf
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. stem — to come from
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. present — the time now
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. present — there
  24. swing — to play on

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