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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: swing · lean · capital · pop · straw · bat · chip · wake

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. pop — to visit
  3. bat — the animal
  4. swing — in golf
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. capital — a city
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. pop — soda
  11. pop — music
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. chip — to eat
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. wake — a trail
  18. chip — for betting
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. lean — to bend
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. swing — music
  23. bat — for baseball
  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