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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: swing · hide · cap · wind · field · chip

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. field — a subject
  3. wind — moving air
  4. swing — to play on
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cap — of ice
  9. cap — a lid
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. swing — in golf
  14. chip — for betting
  15. chip — to eat
  16. swing — music
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air

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