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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: ruler · wind · cold · swing · kid · stem

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wind — moving air
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. cold — not warm
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. kid — child
  12. swing — in golf
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. cold — an illness
  15. swing — to play on
  16. swing — music
  17. kid — to tease
  18. stem — to come from

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