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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 120 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: straw · swing · capital · kick · march · stem · fork · file

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. swing — to play on
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. file — a document
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. file — a tool
  9. march — music
  10. swing — music
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. capital — money
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. file — a line of people
  16. stem — to come from
  17. fork — in a road
  18. march — the month
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. swing — in golf
  22. capital — a city
  23. march — the month
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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