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

Word bank: swing · craft · cold · temple · wind · bat

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. swing — in golf
  3. craft — a skill
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. craft — boats
  6. swing — music
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. bat — the animal
  17. swing — to play on
  18. wind — moving air

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