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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: spell · fine · bore · wind · mark · cold · perch · swing

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. fine — all right
  4. wind — moving air
  5. fine — high quality
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. swing — music
  8. mark — a trace
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mark — a grade
  12. spell — letters
  13. spell — a short time
  14. cold — not warm
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. wind — moving air
  17. cold — an illness
  18. swing — to play on
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. bore — to tire
  22. bore — to drill
  23. swing — in golf
  24. spell — magic

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