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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: march · roll · wound · nail · swing · game · rush · net

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  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. march — music
  2. wound — an injury
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. net — after costs
  5. roll — a cake
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. swing — in golf
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. rush — hurry
  10. game — a match
  11. net — for catching
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. march — the month
  14. net — in sport
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. roll — a list
  17. march — the month
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. game — wild animals
  20. swing — to play on
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. wound — an injury
  23. rush — a thrill
  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