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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: bat · straw · file · capital · rock · suit · swing · cap

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cap — of ice
  3. suit — to fit
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. suit — clothes
  6. rock — music
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. capital — a city
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. cap — a lid
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. swing — music
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. file — a document
  16. rock — a stone
  17. suit — in cards
  18. file — a tool
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. bat — the animal
  21. file — a line of people
  22. swing — to play on
  23. cap — a hat
  24. swing — in golf

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