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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: coach · row · capital · plane · swing · degree · spring · wake

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — money
  3. swing — to play on
  4. spring — a coil
  5. wake — a trail
  6. row — to paddle
  7. swing — in golf
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. spring — the season
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. spring — of water
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. row — a line
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. swing — music
  18. plane — a tool
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. degree — from a university
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. degree — an amount
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. degree — temperature

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