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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.

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: content · row · fan · wound · season · swing · fall · chest

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. season — of the year
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wound — an injury
  5. chest — of your body
  6. swing — music
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. season — in sport
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. row — a line
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. content — the amount
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. swing — in golf
  16. swing — to play on
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. content — happy
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. fall — to drop
  21. chest — a box
  22. fall — to drop
  23. wound — an injury
  24. fall — the season

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