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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: wound · mark · roll · date · club · scale · pitcher · swing

  1. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. mark — a grade
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. club — for golf
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. wound — an injury
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. roll — a cake
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. roll — a list
  13. date — the fruit
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. swing — music
  18. scale — in music
  19. scale — size or range
  20. club — for dancing
  21. swing — to play on
  22. club — a group
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. swing — in golf

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