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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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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 · drill · present · capital · land · saw · firm · kid

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. firm — a company
  3. saw — the tool
  4. swing — to play on
  5. land — to come down
  6. capital — money
  7. capital — a city
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. land — a country
  10. saw — the tool
  11. firm — decided
  12. present — the time now
  13. kid — child
  14. drill — army training
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. kid — to tease
  17. drill — a practice
  18. firm — steady
  19. swing — music
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. drill — the tool
  22. land — ground
  23. present — a gift
  24. present — there

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