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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: swing · straw · plane · wind · tube · drill · date · rush

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. date — the fruit
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. wind — moving air
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. tube — the underground
  8. plane — a tool
  9. tube — a container
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. swing — music
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. rush — hurry
  19. wind — moving air
  20. swing — in golf
  21. drill — the tool
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. drill — a practice
  24. drill — army training

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