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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: cold · bark · mine · kick · saw · row · swing · bass

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. kick — in football
  3. cold — not warm
  4. row — to paddle
  5. row — a line
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. swing — in golf
  8. saw — the tool
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. bass — low music
  14. swing — to play on
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. cold — an illness
  17. swing — music
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. saw — the tool
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. mine — for digging
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. bass — the fish

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