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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: bound · bat · rest · swing · march · roll · cold · ground

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. swing — in golf
  3. rest — what's left
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. swing — to play on
  7. bound — obliged
  8. march — music
  9. rest — what's left
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. march — the month
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bound — certain
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. ground — the earth
  18. ground — crushed
  19. roll — a cake
  20. march — the month
  21. ground — a position
  22. rest — a break
  23. bat — the animal
  24. roll — a list

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