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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 · mark · roll · straw · ground · mouse · capital · game

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. game — a match
  4. swing — in golf
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. capital — money
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. ground — crushed
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. ground — a position
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. roll — a cake
  13. roll — a list
  14. game — wild animals
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. mark — a trace
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. ground — the earth
  22. swing — music
  23. swing — to play on
  24. mark — a grade

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