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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 120 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 · wind · field · kid · fan · racket · sharp · face

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. field — farmland
  3. kid — child
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. wind — moving air
  8. swing — to play on
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. field — a subject
  11. kid — to tease
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. swing — in golf
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. face — to confront
  16. face — part of the head
  17. swing — music
  18. face — to point toward
  19. sharp — clever
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. field — for sport
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. fan — to cool the air
  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