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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 · bore · chest · wind · spell · pop · rule · capital

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. swing — music
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. spell — a short time
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. rule — government
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pop — music
  10. bore — to drill
  11. capital — a city
  12. pop — to visit
  13. bore — to tire
  14. pop — soda
  15. spell — magic
  16. wind — moving air
  17. swing — to play on
  18. spell — letters
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. capital — money
  21. chest — of your body
  22. rule — a law
  23. swing — in golf
  24. chest — a box

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