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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: swing · cold · lie · net · bear · tube · capital · wave

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. lie — to recline
  3. bear — the animal
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. capital — money
  7. swing — to play on
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. swing — in golf
  11. cold — an illness
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. capital — a city
  14. swing — music
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. net — in sport
  17. bear — the animal
  18. tube — the underground
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. net — for catching
  22. tube — a container
  23. net — after costs
  24. capital — a big letter

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