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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 116 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: swing · mine · fork · current · capital · rule · bore · wound

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. current — electric
  5. current — happening now
  6. wound — an injury
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. bore — to drill
  9. swing — in golf
  10. wound — an injury
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. bore — to tire
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. capital — a city
  16. mine — for digging
  17. current — of water
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. rule — a law
  20. swing — to play on
  21. fork — in a road
  22. rule — government
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. swing — music

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