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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 116 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 · fine · cold · club · stick · wave

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. swing — to play on
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. cold — an illness
  7. club — for dancing
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. fine — all right
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. swing — in golf
  16. swing — music
  17. fine — high quality
  18. club — a group

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