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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: last · cabinet · deal · march · swing · club

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. march — the month
  3. last — final
  4. club — a group
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. swing — in golf
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. march — the month
  11. club — for dancing
  12. deal — to handle
  13. club — for golf
  14. march — music
  15. last — finally
  16. last — to go on
  17. swing — music
  18. cabinet — ministers

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