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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: march · bark · pit · cold · wind · swing

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. 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. wind — moving air
  2. swing — music
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. march — the month
  6. swing — in golf
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. pit — a hole
  12. pit — in a race
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. march — the month
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bark — to shout
  17. swing — to play on
  18. 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