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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 120 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 · wind · field · kid · fan · racket

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. field — for sport
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. field — a subject
  7. swing — to play on
  8. wind — moving air
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. swing — in golf
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. wind — moving air
  14. kid — child
  15. field — farmland
  16. swing — music
  17. kid — to tease
  18. wind — to turn a key

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