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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: wind · deal · rush · swing · cold · sharp · wake · march

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. march — music
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. wake — a trail
  5. sharp — clever
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. march — the month
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. deal — to handle
  11. march — the month
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. wind — moving air
  16. swing — in golf
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — an illness
  19. swing — to play on
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wind — moving air
  23. swing — music
  24. rush — hurry

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