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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
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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 · season · present · mine · swing · wound · pitcher · band

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. season — of the year
  3. band — a music group
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wound — an injury
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. wound — an injury
  9. present — the time now
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. present — there
  12. present — a gift
  13. swing — in golf
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. swing — music
  18. band — a ring
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. swing — to play on
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — for digging
  24. wind — moving air

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