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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. march — the month
  3. wind — moving air
  4. band — a music group
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bark — to shout
  8. band — a ring
  9. prune — to trim
  10. snap — to click
  11. swing — in golf
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. swing — to play on
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. stem — to come from
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. march — the month
  20. wind — moving air
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. march — music

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