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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 · game · capital · coach · date · rule · straw · sharp

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. capital — money
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. swing — in golf
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. game — a match
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. date — the fruit
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. game — wild animals
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. swing — music
  17. rule — a law
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. swing — to play on
  20. rule — government
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. capital — a city
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. sharp — clever

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