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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 116 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: wound · swing · bowl · stand · band · rash · bat · wind

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. swing — to play on
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. band — a ring
  10. wind — moving air
  11. stand — to bear
  12. wound — an injury
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. rash — a series
  16. bat — the animal
  17. rash — hasty
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. wind — moving air
  21. swing — in golf
  22. swing — music
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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