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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: land · scale · sharp · swing · capital · fork · snap · shower

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. capital — a city
  3. snap — to click
  4. land — ground
  5. scale — size or range
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. sharp — clever
  8. land — a country
  9. land — to come down
  10. fork — in a road
  11. swing — in golf
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. scale — in music
  15. capital — money
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. swing — music
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. shower — to wash
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. scale — for weighing

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