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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 · chest · wound · current · tear · present

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. present — there
  4. wound — an injury
  5. chest — of your body
  6. swing — music
  7. present — the time now
  8. current — electric
  9. tear — from crying
  10. chest — of your body
  11. swing — in golf
  12. chest — a box
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. swing — to play on
  15. current — happening now
  16. present — a gift
  17. wound — an injury
  18. current — of water

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