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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: wind · march · snap · swing · field · chip · season · wave

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. season — of the year
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. march — the month
  5. chip — for betting
  6. field — farmland
  7. season — in sport
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. march — music
  12. field — a subject
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. wind — moving air
  15. field — for sport
  16. wind — moving air
  17. swing — in golf
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. march — the month
  20. chip — to eat
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. swing — to play on
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. swing — music

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