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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 · cell · wind · fan · bound · row · straw · court

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. cell — a phone
  3. swing — in golf
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. swing — music
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. court — for sport
  9. court — of a king
  10. court — of law
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. bound — certain
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. swing — to play on
  16. cell — in biology
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. bound — obliged
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. row — a line
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bound — tied together

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