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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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Word bank
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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: club · rock · rash · wind · net · wound

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. wound — an injury
  4. club — for golf
  5. wound — an injury
  6. net — for catching
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. net — in sport
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. club — a group
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. rock — a stone
  13. rash — hasty
  14. wind — moving air
  15. net — after costs
  16. rock — music
  17. wind — moving air
  18. rash — a series

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