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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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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 · fall · rest · bowl · march · pass · mine · wound

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. rest — a break
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. march — the month
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. swing — music
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. march — the month
  13. swing — to play on
  14. march — music
  15. wound — an injury
  16. mine — for digging
  17. fall — the season
  18. rest — what's left
  19. swing — in golf
  20. fall — to drop
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. rest — what's left
  23. fall — to drop
  24. pass — a permit

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