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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: wind · deal · drill · swing · fall · stock

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. fall — to drop
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fall — to drop
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. deal — to handle
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. swing — in golf
  9. drill — army training
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — goods
  12. drill — the tool
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. wind — moving air
  15. fall — the season
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. swing — music
  18. drill — a practice

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