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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. swing — in golf
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. march — the month
  7. land — ground
  8. land — a country
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. saw — the tool
  11. land — to come down
  12. swing — music
  13. march — the month
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. row — a line
  16. court — of law
  17. march — music
  18. saw — the tool
  19. row — to paddle
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. swing — to play on
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. court — of a king
  24. court — for sport

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