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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: capital · mate · swing · shower · deal · last · rush · mine

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. last — to go on
  5. capital — a city
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. mate — to breed
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. mine — for digging
  10. shower — to wash
  11. mate — a friend
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. deal — to handle
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. rush — hurry
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. swing — music
  18. last — final
  19. swing — in golf
  20. mate — a partner
  21. last — finally
  22. capital — money
  23. swing — to play on
  24. shower — rain

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