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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · capital · scale · shower · present · chip · wave · current

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. present — a gift
  3. current — of water
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. capital — money
  6. chip — for betting
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. chip — to eat
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. current — electric
  11. shower — rain
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. swing — to play on
  14. present — the time now
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — size or range
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. capital — a city
  20. present — there
  21. current — happening now
  22. swing — music
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. swing — in golf

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