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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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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: wind · fan · rest · mark · swing · ground · date · last

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. mark — a grade
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. wind — moving air
  5. rest — what's left
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. swing — to play on
  10. mark — a trace
  11. ground — a position
  12. swing — in golf
  13. ground — the earth
  14. last — final
  15. swing — music
  16. last — to go on
  17. last — finally
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. date — the fruit
  20. ground — crushed
  21. rest — what's left
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. wind — moving air
  24. rest — a break

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