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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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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. swing — music
  4. march — the month
  5. perch — the fish
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. swing — in golf
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. swing — to play on
  14. march — the month
  15. race — humankind
  16. race — the arms race
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. march — music
  21. wound — an injury
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. game — a match
  24. race — a contest

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