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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: hand · saw · capital · pitch · swing · spring · stem · last

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. hand — help
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. last — final
  6. saw — the tool
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. capital — money
  10. stem — to come from
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. spring — a coil
  13. pitch — completely
  14. spring — of water
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. swing — music
  17. swing — to play on
  18. last — to go on
  19. spring — the season
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. swing — in golf
  22. capital — a city
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. hand — in cards

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