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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 116 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: hand · fine · fan · race · swing · capital · tear · present

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  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. fine — high quality
  2. hand — in cards
  3. present — there
  4. capital — a city
  5. tear — from crying
  6. capital — money
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. race — humankind
  10. swing — to play on
  11. present — a gift
  12. race — a contest
  13. tear — from crying
  14. hand — help
  15. swing — in golf
  16. present — the time now
  17. swing — music
  18. fine — all right
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. tear — to rip
  22. race — the arms race
  23. fan — a supporter
  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