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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: hand · march · chest · cue · mine · swing · rash · mug

  1. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. rash — hasty
  3. chest — of your body
  4. mug — a cup
  5. march — the month
  6. cue — a hint
  7. cue — for pool
  8. swing — music
  9. mug — a face
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — help
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. swing — in golf
  14. chest — of your body
  15. swing — to play on
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. rash — a series
  18. cue — a signal
  19. chest — a box
  20. march — music
  21. hand — in cards
  22. mine — for digging
  23. march — the month
  24. mine — an explosive

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