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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: swing · firm · rule · mine · file · wound · squash · wind

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. firm — steady
  3. squash — to crush
  4. squash — the sport
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. mine — for digging
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. file — a line of people
  9. swing — music
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. wind — moving air
  12. rule — government
  13. rule — a law
  14. wound — an injury
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. file — a tool
  19. wound — an injury
  20. firm — decided
  21. firm — a company
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — to play on
  24. file — a document

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