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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wind — moving air
  5. firm — a company
  6. firm — steady
  7. swing — in golf
  8. swing — music
  9. saw — the tool
  10. court — for sport
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. court — of a king
  13. wind — moving air
  14. spring — of water
  15. march — music
  16. firm — decided
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. swing — to play on
  19. spring — the season
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. march — the month
  22. spring — a coil
  23. court — of law
  24. march — the month

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