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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: rash · bowl · march · present · swing · squash · snap · file

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. rash — hasty
  4. present — the time now
  5. squash — to crush
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. present — a gift
  8. snap — to click
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. present — there
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a line of people
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. march — the month
  17. march — music
  18. squash — the sport
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. swing — music
  21. file — a tool
  22. rash — a series
  23. march — the month
  24. swing — in golf

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