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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 · wake · cold · nail · pass · court · fall · row

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. swing — music
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. wake — a trail
  6. court — of a king
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. fall — the season
  10. pass — a permit
  11. fall — to drop
  12. swing — to play on
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. fall — to drop
  15. swing — in golf
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. cold — not warm
  18. court — of law
  19. row — to paddle
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. cold — an illness
  23. row — a line
  24. court — for sport

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