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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: swing · capital · stick · wound · race · vault · wake · field

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. race — a contest
  5. field — farmland
  6. swing — in golf
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. swing — music
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. race — the arms race
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wound — an injury
  15. race — humankind
  16. capital — money
  17. vault — a safe
  18. wake — a trail
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. field — a subject
  21. swing — to play on
  22. capital — a city
  23. field — for sport
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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